A popular history of the Mollusca; comprising a familiar account of their classification, instincts and habits, and of the growth and distinguishing characters of their shells

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A

POPULAR HISTORY

OF THE

MOLLUSCA,

COMPRISING

A FAMILIAR ACCOUNT OF THEIR CLASSIFICATION, INSTINCTS,
AND HABITS, AND OF THE GROWTH AND

DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERS OF THEIR SHELLS.

BY
MARY ROBERTS,
Author of ‘ The Conchologist’s Companion,’ &e.
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LONDON :
REEVE AND BENHAM,
HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN.

1851.

PRINTED BY REEVE AND NICHOLS,

HEATHCOCK COURT, STRAND.

PREFACE.

Tus following pages, compiled chiefly from the writings of
Mr. Reeve, treat not so much of shells, as of their animal oc-
cupants ; and this is desirable, because shells are too often
regarded as merely objects of ornament or of fancy. Owing
to the retired habits of the Mollusca, and to their soft and
perishable nature, Conchology has but slowly advanced in
the true spirit of a science. Considerable additions have,
however, been made to our knowledge of the animals by
drawings taken of them of late years in a living state, and
a sufficient number and variety of typical kinds have been
examined to afford a tolerably ample view of the whole.

Although a very large proportion of the Mollusca are

1V PREFACE.

known only as yet by their shell, so many characteristic
generic forms have been described, that the nature of nearly
all may be fairly determined by analogy.

The species selected for illustration in the present work
are represented as they appear alive. It would not be
possible to form a cabinet collection of them in this state,
for even when preserved in spirits the soft or mollus-
cous portion becomes, in a measure, contracted and dis-
coloured: but the shells or hard parts are readily collected,
and it is hoped that the following popular account of the
instincts and habits of the constructing animals will render

their shells more intelligible and of greater interest.

CONTENTS.

DRPREPLDI III

Page,
CHAPTER I.

CONSTERUCLION OF SHBELES © .i207.6 30 2) <a fig + ee lk
CHAPTER II.

ONE! AND) EPA BETPATION <0 ses S902 hie ; 9
CHAPTER III.

TwO Gia Ne iy POR SHELUS ~t 5°. 0. 8 on a ow ee ees

CHAPTER IV.

AONE ODS eben ise Ses 5, tet RACE RP SPR Ms eee Sg
CHAPTER V.

PRO RODSH eee hs. Sede 2 Ob eo oY ae ee en
CHAPTER VI.

PAVERS -OF PHCTINIBRANCHS .. -« .:. 5 3 3 Seis

° PULMOBRANCHS: (0) 0) 9o0 4 Space

A NUCLEOBRANCHS . 0.5. hs a eee

a PLEUROBRANCHS Oe Cre te aes eT

Re CHRVICOBRANCHS® * 30 32 2. 9s 27-0 ae 202

as CYCTLOBRANGEES yi Se Sa se ye eeemenlang

* CIRROBRANCHS ota SY as | eee

v1 CONTENTS.

CHAPTER VII.

PTEROPODS

CHAPTER VIII.
LAMELLIBRANCHS .

CHAPTER IX.
BRACHIOPODS
INDEX

—

. 381

> “ool

oF Woe

=I Oo OF BP OO ~w HY

PES er

Puare: [.

Sepia officinalis ......
molieo vyulearis:..... 02...
epirula Peroni.......
Nautilus Pompilius....
Argonauta argo ......

Prats IT.

Cypreea caurica ......
Ovulum volva .......
Cypreea Mauritiana ....

Ovulum verrucosum......
Cypreea nucleus ......

——talpa.......

eruental. 2 6b...
Puate IIT,

Voluta vespertilio........

OF

Aba haves

SO OF Ee & MO HE

LOOP PLP OID Dn

Puate IV.

Oliva Brasiliana .......
Mitra episcopalis ......

Marginella diadochus

PuaTeE V.

Buccinum testudineum....

Nassa olivacea .

Cancellaria trigonostoma ..
Ancillaria australis... ..
Rbornaareclata, (2 seer
Ricinula horrida.......

undulata’ 2255S
Oliva textilima:..%. oa:

Page,

iil LIST OF PLATES.

Puate VI. eas aces ae
Fig. ea Page. | 2 Eolis cingulata.... oi
1 Terebra maculata . . 93 | 3 concima: 2)... seas a
2 Terebellum subulatum .... 107 | 4 Polycera, ocellatay 2) - ae -
3 Concholepas Peruvianus . 93 | 5 Glaucus distichoicus...... _,,
4 Purpura patula 93 | 6 Doris flammea .. 5
5 Ficula levigata...... 127
Paire V1. Pee
1 Strombus gigas ......... 110 1 Turbo MISE sv 145
2 Rostellaria curvirostris.... 109 | ® ii a) Ab MUMS S82 = ee
& Pterocera truncata ....... DEORCS Rotella Imeolata gaa > 137
4 Delphinula laciniata ...... 137
Puate VIL. 5. Phasianella varia...) see
1 Fasciolaria tulipa ........ 129 ;
Pee Erion nodilerns .........- 112 Puate XII.
: a eee eee td a 1 °Turbo spinosus .\.). 72 2 ee
Sy even piganica .-...-.. Sea) Pyramidella maculata... .. 15]
Puate IX. 3 Sealaria clathrus ......... 141
1 Cerithium palustre... ... 132 4 ‘Trochus-stellaris Vee ce 146
Sefusus nodosus .......... 111 | > Solarium perspectivum 5 ane
3 mulizeanmatis .°... 11] | © Lurntella dupleata’ a
4. Murex ramosus .......,. 15
mae Puate XITT.
Prats X. 1 Nerita polita | 4... 2 = eeeeeon
1 Goniodoris Whitei ....... +132 ASCENSIONIS ... 2 eee ela

* These, intended to illustrate the shell-less Family Nudibranchiata, have been inad-
vertently omitted in the text.

Fig.

3
4
5

“2 Om OF FH © @®O FH

LIST OF

Page.

Sigaretus concavus....... 206

Natica Chemnitzii ....... 206

maa os. os a os 3 oe 206
Puatr XIV.

Paludina lapidum........ 163

Smilina pulchra .../..... 168

Scarabus imbrium ....... 168

Ampullaria cornu-arietis... 163

Sealants . 2.2.4... 163

mielaria, Indica ; ~ .s:... << 164

mnricula Judse....-..... L68
PLATE XV.

Bulimus rosaceus........ 186

GIUMMUS! oes Gated os 186

AGE 172

Bulimus Shongii ........ 186
Puate XVI.

Limax antiquorum....... 192

PLATES.

Helix Alonensis!... 55 008
Helix.acuta 5.4.5.0 ee
Gualteriana........
Cyclostoma mca. . 3... ase
Helix mammuilla .. 3255-8

ark wwe

Pirate XVII.

Atlantacheronul {2 eee
Fissurella radiata ........
Slomatia NieTa 4:05 2548.
Parmophorus ambiguus ...
Bulla physis:< 2.0) aee

Hm OD 2

Or

Pirate XVIII.

Cytherea chione +... eee ae
Lima ans’. <=. 255 ee
Tridacna squamosa.......
Panopeea Aldrovandi .....

H OF 2

POPULAR

INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

LLLP OOOO

CHAPTER I.

CONSTRUCTION OF SHELLS.

There is such beauty in all natural things,
That e’en the loneliest heart for a small space,
While gazing, musing, as on dove-like wings,
May soar above the heavens, and take her place
In warbling thanks ; till wan grief’s dread array
Seem but as dreams that troubled the dark night,
Filed with her shades, when the clear eye of day
Doth look upon them, and the heart grows light.
THE science of Conchology comprises much that is curious and
beautiful. It treats concerning the structure of testaceous
shells, of the nature and habits of their animal inhabitants,
and speaks, as with a voice from out the waters, of things
pertaining to the instincts and formation of those wondrous
creatures which stand foremost in the lower division of the

Animal Kingdom.

ae)

INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

The creatures of which we speak are termed Mollusks, a
word derived from the Latin, and signifying soft, for their
nature is fleshy and unjointed, boneless, and (except in the
most highly organized), without even an internal cartilagmous
frame-work. Each individual may be consequently re-
garded as composed of two parts; the one, endowed with
organs of motion, vision, and muscular contraction, pecu-
liarly adapted to its nature ; the other, its shell or habitation,
which is generally hard and calcareous, partially or entirely
covering the inhabitant, which is attached to it by means
of muscles; and, however unimportant some of the species
may appear, we shall certainly discover that they are as ex-
quisitely contrived, and as carefully wrought for the place and
station which they are designed to fill, as the higher orders of
creation. Nay, further, if we consider the prodigious number
of individuals, the shape and construction of their little
bodies, their motion, instincts, and, to say no more, the in-
comparable beauty and lustre of the colours with which
their coatings are shaded and adorned, where shall we dis-
cover more striking demonstrations of an Almighty Creator,
than in this minute and, till lately, neglected branch of
natural history P

Some species inhabit the sea; others, fresh water ; others,

CONSTRUCTION OF SHELLS. 3
again, the land. Their instincts in general appear superior
to those of their relatives, the undefended mollusca; and
with regard to every other class of organized beings, there
subsists, besides several points of resemblance, a general
relation of a very peculiar kind. ‘This is the relation of
inversion, the law of contrariety; for as in other animals
the bones to which the muscles are attached lie within the
the body, in mollusks they are placed externally. The tes-
taceous coating forms an outer protective skeleton, and
furnishes to the muscles that fixed basis, without which,
mechanically, they could not act. All this most strikingly
evinces a pursuance of the same plan.

But how, it may be asked, are the shells of the mollusca
constructed ; and what are their component parts? Shells
may be regarded as epidermal im their character, being
formed upon the surface of a filmy cloak-like organ called a
mantle, and which answers to the true skin of other animals.
A slimy juice, consisting of a membranaceous tissue, conso-
lidated by an admixture of carbonate of lime, exudes from
the glands of this important organ, and thickening in suc-
cessive layers becomes hardened and moulded on the body ;
at first simple and unadorned, but subsequently embellished
according to the taste or inclination of the occupant.

B2

4. INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

Each shell is therefore composed of animal and calcareous
matter; the first constitutes a membranaceous basis, which
is equally curious and beautiful, being either formed of cells
with hexagonal walls, or else of lamine, more or less wrinkled
like morocco leather. But however differmg, they are both
recipients of the calcareous matter already mentioned; the
lime in both cases imparting solidity to the membranaceous
tissue, that would otherwise be little more than a mere cob-
web. Procure, for instance, the shell of any specimen of
Pinna, and break off a small portion from the thin margin
of the outer layer which projects beyond the inner; submit
that portion to a low magnifying power, and when examined
by transmitted light it will present, on each of its surfaces,
very much the appearance of a honeycomb. Look narrowly
and you will discover further, that whilst at the broken edge
it exhibits a fibrous aspect, itmay be compared, in reality,
to an assemblage of basaltic columns. A still closer in-
spection will reveal tbat the shell is composed of a vast
number of prisms arranged perpendicularly to the surface of
its laminee, forming the thickness by their length, and the
two surfaces by their extremities. And each of these,
although composed of very homogeneous substances, are
separated by strongly marked hexagonal divisions, resembling

CONSTRUCTION OF SHELLS. 9
those of the pith or bark in vegetables. Some pass from
one surface of the layer to another; others terminate in
points midway, marked by delicate transverse strize. A few
may be compared to small burnished mirrors, or large
nuclear spots. The hinge-tooth of the Mya exhibits a very
curious variety in large cells occupied by carbonate of lime
disposed in a radicated form of crystallization, resembling
that of the mineral called Wavellite. Nor less curious than
beautiful is the internal layer of different kinds of bivalves,
which present a nacreous or iridescent lustre, the result of
its surface bemg varied with a series of grooved lines
running nearly parallel to each other. In lke manner the
well-known Ear-shell, Haliotis splendens, has been ascer-
tained to consist of numerous plates resembling tortoise-
shell, alternating with thin layers of pearl or nacre, which
exhibit, when highly magnified, a series of irregular folds.
The iridescent hues are often extremely pleasing; and if a
piece be submitted to the action of diluted acid, till the cal-
careous portion of the nacreous layers are dissolved, the
plates of animal matter fall apart, each one carrying with it
the membraneous residuum of the layer of nacre that belonged
to its inner surface. But the nacre and membrane covering
some of these horny plates remain undisturbed, and their

6 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

folded or plaited surfaces, although divested of calcareous
matter, exlibit iridescent hues of the most gorgeous
description. But if the membrane is spread out with a
needle, and the plates unfolded to a considerable extent, the
iridescence is no more seen; a fact which clearly demon-
strates that the beautiful effects presented by the nacreous
portion of shells, commonly called mother-of-pearl, is pro-
duced by the disposition of simgle membranaceous layers m
folds or plaits, lying more or less obliquely to the general
surface. Fairy prisms are they, refracting rays of hght that
fall upon them, and presenting a constant succession of rich
and varying colours that
‘* Flying several from each surface, form
A trembling radiance of revolving hues,
As the site varies in the gazer’s hand.”

The most resplendent nacre is that with which the large
Avicula of the Pacific adorns the interior of her shell; and
the pearl, called by Orientals a globe of ight, is the product
of its superabundant flow.

Young conchologists, who cannot pursue the vestigations
of scientific men, may yet derive much pleasure from an easy
chemical experiment, in the operation of which shells be-
come distinctly exhibited, without any material alteration

CONSTRUCTION OF SHELLS. 7

from the nature of the solvent. Thus if a sufficient quantity
of nitric acid, considerably diluted either with water or
spirits of wine, 1s poured upon a shell contained in a glass
vessel, it will soon exhibit a soft floating substance, consisting
of innumerable membranes, which retain the figure of the
shell, and afford a beautiful and popular object for the
microscope. In analysing shells of a finer texture than such
as are generally submitted to the test of experiment, the
greatest circumspection is necessary. So much so that M.
Herissant, whose attention was particularly devoted to the
subject, after placing a porcelain shell in spirits of wine,
added from day to day, for the space of two months, a
single drop of spirits of nitre, lest the air, generated or let
loose by the action of the nitric acid on the earthly sub-
stance, should tear the net-work of the fine membranaceous
structure. This gradual operation was attended with com-
plete success, and a delicate and beautifully reticulated
film, resembling a spider’s web in texture, rewarded the
patience of the operator; the organization of which, from
its extreme fineness, he was not, however, able to delineate.
In shells of peculiar delicacy, even five or six months are
sometimes necessary for their complete development ; but,
in others of a coarser texture, the process is soon completed.

S INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

Many beautiful configurations are afforded by the mem-
branaceous parts of different shells; that especially which
is disclosed in the laminee of the Oyster, Mussel, and Sea-
ear, after exposure to the action of diluted nitric acid.

Such are the materials of which the shelly structures of
mollusks are formed,—a combination of small means, and
yet productive of exquisite results; of materials, too, for
chemistry, touching them with her wand, discovers that
neither costly metals, nor bright gems, nor glittering sands,
are brought for their construction and adornment ; but simply
gluten and calcareous particles, apparently of little worth.

CHAPTER II.

GROWTH AND HABITATION.

~ Oh, there are curious things of which men know
As yet but little !—secrets lyimg hid
Within all natural objects. Be they shells,
Which ocean flingeth forth from off her billows
On the low sand, or flowers, or trees, or grasses,
Covering the earth; rich metals or bright ores
Beneath the surface. He who findeth out
Those secret things, hath a fair right to gladness ;
For he hath well performed, and doth wake
Another note of praise on Nature’s harp
To hymn her Great Creator.

SueEcts form either a coat-of-mail, or shed, or marine pavilion,
adapted to the exigencies of the wearer ; and no sooner has a
young mollusk, whether oviparous or viviparous, emerged to
life, than its embryo shell increases by the gradual deposition
of lime and gluten from the mantle, in such varieties of form
as pertain to its habits and destination. Though inferior

10 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

in organic development to that internal frame-work which
pertains to the higher orders of vertebrate animals, each
kind has its allotted period and uniformity of growth, and
exhibits certain characters and impressions equally indicative
of peculiar structure, and suggestive of subsidiary characters
for the distinction of groups.

The Cowry shell may be known by its highly polished
and porcellaneous surface to be more or less enveloped by
some appendage of the animal inhabitant; the Siphonaria
offers indications of a siphon; the Venus reveals the form
assigned to the lobes of the mantle; and who may observe
the series of holes that embellish the Hadcotis without con-
jecturing that they answer some important purpose in the
animal economy? And his conjecture would be night; for
they are perforated, at different periods, for the passage of
organs conveying water to the breathing apparatus.

The same obvious reference to beauty of effect, which
gave rise to an arrangement of little prisms for refracting
rays of light, and thus producing a variety of iridescent
hues, is equally apparent in the configuration of different
shells. This pleasing fact is strikingly exemplified in the
spiral form of many of these elegant receptacles. Round
or oblong cases would effectually defend the mhabitants

GROWTH AND HABITATION. Hi

from external injury ; but these require in their construction
a considerable quantity of the viscous exudation already
noticed ; whereas a thin coating, fitted to the shape of each
individual, answers the purpose equally as well, and more-
over enables it to feel the vibrations of the aqueous element
in which it frequently resides.

Thus, in subserviency to this general system of economy,
as well as in accordance with the instincts of the animals
themselves, we find that different species of mollusks are
enclosed in various kinds of testaceous coverings. Those
which defend the active family of Donaw enable them to
dart away on the approach of danger; while the shells of
their more inactive relatives, the perambulating So/ens, are
admirably adapted to assist their movements through the
yielding sand. ‘The martial Chitons walk abroad in coats-
of-mail, fitting like plate armour, and surrounded with horny
belts or margins, often covered with scales. The shields
of the Pholades bristle with poimts resembling a file, by
means of which they are defended from external injury,
when occupied in slowly excavating the hardest substances ;
and the hospitable mansions of the peaceful Prune are suffi-
ciently large for the admission of their unassuming guests.

The conical shaped shells of the Patellz, or Limpets,

}2 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

remind the traveller of Anchorites dwelling by the sea-side
in solitary tents. The Hedices, or Snails, slowly perambulate
the garden walks, with coverings that resemble the awnings
of broad-wheeled waggons. The Cardia, or Cockles, are
provided with thick coatings, which enable them to endure
the rough beating of a boisterous sea; and the shells of
such species as are fragile and transparent, and scarcely able
to resist the shghtest pressure, are found in still ponds and
muddy ditches. Some possess a solvent property, and are
thus enabled, by little or no expenditure of muscular power,
to effect 1mportant changes in their condition.

Snails produce indentures in limestone walls even when
quietly at rest. Pdolades pierce the hardest limestone rocks,
and increase in size while remaining willing prisoners within
stone walls, without the slightest injury to their delicate
and highly finished shells. The Cowry, when arrived at
maturity, has even the power of partially dissolving a con-
siderable portion of his shell, and repairing or enlarging it,
according to his exigencies. Thus also has the Cone ; when
young, the inner spiral partitions of his shell are thick and
solid, but when adult they are absorbed to a degree of thin-
ness, which, at an earlier period, would not have been strong
enough to support the primitive structure. Some moliusks

GROWTH AND HABITATION. 13

remove with ease whatever presents an obstacle to their
convolutions of growth. In the Uwrex cornutus, for example,
this mode of operation may be occasionally traced, by ob-
serving on the left side of the aperture the base of a spime,
which had evidently been taken away for the purpose of
covering the boundary of the aperture with a coating of
enamel. ‘The Cowry can even form a new shell when fully
grown: a phenomenon which modern naturalists long hesi-
tated to receive; but which is now proved beyond doubt by
Lieut. Hankey, who was himself an eye-witness of the curious
fact, and who relates that he has seen the shell of a Cowry,
when too small for its occupant, begin to crack and swell ; at
which time some powerful solvent or decomposing fluid had
evidently been distributed over its outer surface by that all-
important instrument, the mantle; for it gradually became
more dull in colour and thin in substance, till at length the
shell disappeared, and the Cowry was rendered homeless.
Short time, however, elapsed before the creature set to work,
and secreted a thin layer of glutinous matter, which in a
few days assumed the fragile consistency of shell-lac. The
dwelling then rapidly progressed, till at length it was
consolidated into one of those beautifully spotted shells,
which equally ornament the widow’s cottage, cherished as

14 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

remembrances of her sailor boy, and the costly cabinets of
the shell collector.

The inner portion, or rather columella, with its spiral
compartments, however, remains undisturbed. The animal
inhabitant merely dissolves the outer portion of his shell
with an acetous juice, exuding from his mantle, which is
capable of being extended over the shell; and the same
power which enables him to furnish his last coating of
enamel can be exerted in the formation of superior cumbent
layers to replace what he has thought proper to remove.
Thus, also, the Murex readily displaces spines, or any sumilar
obstacles which impede an enlarged growth; while the
Pholades, as already noticed, and other terebrating mollusks,
exercise a faculty which enables them to penetrate the
hardest limestone rocks.

The structure of the Cowry shell is, moreover, peculiarly
tenacious of absorption; it is composed of a larger quantity
of carbonate of lime than membranous substance,—a fact
which readily accounts for its surface becoming vitrified or
polished by continual contact with the acid secretions of the
mantle. And as respects the formation of a new shell, it is
worthy of remark, that the glutinous matter which resembles
shell-lac, and is so fragile as to crack with the slightest

GROWTH AND HABITATION. 15

touch, does not assume the narrow cylindrical Bu//a-form,
nor yet revolve around a columella axis; it takes the wide
ventricose shape of a Cymba, and rapidly consolidates into
the adult shell. It is therefore evident that the Cyprea
removes at will any portion that impedes his full develop-
ment; that when his house becomes too small for his com-
fortable occupation he causes it to melt away as by the
touch of an enchanter’s wand ; and lastly, that he reconstructs
with equal facility the beauteous edifice that constitutes his
home. ‘The operation is, however, said to be of rare occur-
rence, and to happen only under peculiar circumstances.
Yet not less wonderful is the gradual increase and
development of shelly structures, with gradations of form
and hue, and architectural embellishments which occur at
different periods. It even seems as if the animal inhabitant
in progressing from youth to full maturity, acquired new
ideas with skill to embody them; and so great a difference
subsists between the extremes of age, that shells of young
Cowries were figured by our forefathers as Bud/@. Adanson
collected them in a separate genus, with the title of Perido-
lus ; and a celebrated continental naturalist of the present
day was long unable to abandon this chimera. The changes,
therefore, among Cownies, both of colour and of pattern, with

16 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

that of form, are so peculiar, that the shell-collector should
obtain specimens at different periods of their growth.

First then, and as presenting the earliest attempt made
by a young Cowry towards constructing a dwelling, appears
a simple convolution of shell around the columella axis, in
the form of a long drawn-out Bulla, the columella being
smooth, the outer lip thin, and the colour usually diffused
in wavy bands.

A second epoch of growth succeeds; the shell becomes
more solid, the lp and columella begin to thicken, and
present gradual indications of teeth, which develope more
and more, and the surface is overlaid with a strong coat of
livid colouring matter diffused in obscure bands or waves.
Another process ensues; for the calcifying energies of the
mantle, which extending in two unequal lobes from either
side of the shell’s aperture, have been hitherto chiefly
encrusted upon the back of the dorsal surface, during the
second epoch of growth, are now more particularly directed
to the base and sides. The teeth are strengthened, the sides
become thickened with a rich coating of enamel, and the
beauty of the superb arch is rendered perfect by lines or
waves, or net-work, of various hues and patterns.

In most species three separate phases of colour pertain to
different periods of growth. In the C. Mauritiana, tor

Plate IL.

Reevs & Nichols, imp

W. Wang, ith

-
a Sei

HABITATIONS OF MOLLUSKS. 17

example, the first tinting in its Bu//a form, is pale yellow,
with wavy bands; in a second stage the waves become agglo-
merated, and leave the yellow in triangular flame-like spots ;
the teeth, meanwhile, are fully developed, and the sides are
thickened by means of a rich dark brown coating, thinly
spread over the dorsal surface, and forming irregular reticu-
lations, as if by the admixture of some oily liquid.

A uniform pure, clear milky orange colour, designates the
first growth of the Scott’s Cowry, C. Scotti. It then assumes
a bluish tinge, disposed in obscure bands, and begins to
show a few bright tortoise-shell brown blotches, which
rapidly accumulate, as seen in the adult, long before there
is any indication of teeth. This arrangement differs from
that of most Cowries, in which the teeth are chiefly deve-
loped before the last layer of colouring matter is deposited.

Lastly, the sides and base become thickened with an
extremely rich and dark brown coating of enamel, and the
extremities are compressed and turned upwards. This
curious shell was introduced to the knowledge of concholo-
gists by Mr. Broderip, to whom it was transinitted, about
fourteen years since, by the Rev. Archdeacon Scott, from the
island of Java, and since then several fine specimens have
been received from the Swan River, New Holland.

C

18 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

But the most striking instance of gradual development
is shown in the Tiger Cowry, C. tigris. The colour is at
first of an uniform chesnut bay, but afterwards seems to
break into bands of close-set waved blotches of a richer hue,
a coating of which is then super-imposed, and upon that is
deposited a series of rather distant zigzag flames upon a
white ground. Thirdly, the mollusk turns his attention
towards the formation of teeth, and a few coloured spots
become apparent round the outer side. In the next stage,
a second layer of white enamel is added, but considerably
thinner and more delicate than the preceding, through
which zigzag flames may be seen of a milky hue, and upon
this surface a number of dark spots are deposited. ‘These,
again, are overspread by a thin white coating, intermixed
with numerous rich black and brown spots, showing for the
first time a narrower dorsal line, mostly edged with reddish
brown, having also the first deposit of dark spots over-
spread with a bluish transparent milky hue.

Many of these splendid mollusks inhabit the shores of
the Pearl Islands. They are uniformly found in shallow
water under rolled masses of Madrepore, for they never
expose themselves to the sun’s rays. On lifting one of these
masses, a Tiger Cowry was generally observed, with his

HABITATIONS OF MOLLUSKS. 19

shell entirely covered by a large mantle, beautifully spotted
with dark colours, the intensity of which seemed changeable
at the creature’s will; for the colour varied in the same
hight and medium as spots on the Cephalopodous mollusca.
On touching the mantle it was immediately drawn within
the shell, of which the brilliancy then became apparent.

The exquisite varieties of hues and patterns exhibited by
different members of the Cyprea tribe, are formed on reaching
maturity. Previous infusions of colour rarely exhibit any
thing more than a dull confusion of waves, or clouds, or
bands, and no ornamental device is seen, until the shell is
perfected ; the most richly variegated layers of enamel, and
the exquisite paintings are reserved for the final touch of the
pencil. A striking exception, however, occurs im the Map
Cowry, C. mappa. In this a layer of pale hieroglyphic
painting is deposited by the animal on the left side chiefly,
while yet in an immature state of growth; and on arriving
at maturity another and richer layer is added upon the
former, which in most specimens may be plainly seen
beneath it.

Nor less curious and varied are the habits of the Mol-
lusca than the shells in which they are encased. ‘They lke-
wise possess Instincts in conformity with their watery

C2

20 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

locations ; and though unsightly, and often difficult of access,
it is conjectured, with good reason, that they are not infe-
rior in sagacity and architectural skill to the bee and ant;
that further, they are equally at home either in the sea or
upon land, being expert in swimming or in diving, in leaping
or in climbing to a considerable height; nay, it has even
been asserted that some species develope qualities analo-
gous to such as pertain to the higher orders of Mammalia.

All watery zones have, therefore, their molluscous occu-
pants. Some inhabit the deep sea; others are found along
the shores at different depths, either m mud, or sand, or
gravel, on coral reefs, or else nestling beneath overarching
rocks at low water. Stationary sea-weeds, that form marine
groves, are the haunts of many an home-loving mollusk ;
whilst others prefer to float on vegetable cars :—

“ Flung from the rock, on ocean’s foam to sail,
Where’er the waves may urge, the tempest’s breath prevail.”

Others, again, remain embedded in wood, or coral, or
limestone rocks. Such as inhabit ponds and marshes are
generally of a dull and stagnant nature, and are either borne
upon the surface or attach themselves to weeds. Such as
are assigned to rivers, float up and down with the tide, or
remain stationary by the aid of water plants; lastly, such

HABITATIONS OF MOLLUSKS. 21

as abound on hills and in forests live upon the branches of
trees, or creep among roots and shrubs, or decayed and
fallen leaves.

The common Oyster hides itself among stones; others
become parasitic, and cling to the roots and branches of
such trees as dip into the water. Mussels often mde at
anchor in shallows of the sea-shore; and Piane moor
their fragile barks to huge pebbles by means of silken cords,
which are spun in a manner analogous to spider-webs.
Silver-tinted Anomias may be seen calmly ridig on the
currents of the ocean, attached to floating tufts of sea-weed ;
while many of their brethren resemble tiny vessels, safely
moored in the little coves that are formed by the tree-like
fabrics of innumerable corals.

The shell-collector has frequently observed the beautiful
effect produced by the shells of different Mollusks when
either adhering to marine rocks or else perambulating
beneath the waters. On walking over the island of Cyprus,
he was particularly struck with the number of brilliant
Limpets for which that classic spot is so much celebrated.
Considerable numbers had fixed themselves to branches of
white coral, where they resembled the delicate blossoms of
the peach; others, which seemed to be inlaid with mother

22 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

of pearl, opal and amethyst, clung to the sheltering rocks,
as if fearful of being separated from them by the agitated
waves of the surrounding element. And while observing
their various forms and movements, the shell collector could
not help reflecting on the adaptation of those creatures to
their different localities, with an earnest wish to unravel the
mysteries of their existence. For little as yet is known
concerning their connection with different rocks and sea-
weeds; still less as regards their fitness for them, or their
union with that element which often conceals them im its
deep recesses.

Several of the rocks exhibited beautiful specimens of gor-
geous sea-weeds, which presented, in the variety of their
configurations, long tufts of various hues, or garlands,
festoons, or cordages, that trembled and glittered in the
water; haunts of innumerable mollusks, some of which ex-
hibited the glowing colours of the rainbow, or tints of the
richest tulips; others resembled little marine lamps sus-
pended in the crevices of dark rocks; others, again, appeared
as if encased with silver armour, as they walked beneath
the spreading branches of the Madrepore.

Different kinds of shells are often invested with an outer
covering of considerable beauty, resembling either a thin

HABITATIONS OF MOLLUSKS. 23

skin or a hairy kind of garment. This curious appendage
is particularly obvious in different species of Zrochus, Conus,
Triton, Unio, and others, which not unfrequently conceal
beneath such extraneous coverings the most beautiful
designs and painting. Thus many Limpets, when dis-
robed of their garment by the application of nitric acid,
present an under-surface resembling the finest tortoise-shell,
blended with burnished gold. The Zrochus [ris conceals
im like manner a splendid metallic lustre; and numerous
species of the genus Unio, which are covered with a brown
or green epidermis, reveal a brilliantly tinted and pearly
surface, glowing with the colours of the rainbow.

St. Pierre, with his accustomed elegance of thought, con-
jectures that nature has veiled the beauty of these singular
productions, m order to preserve it for the admiration of
her sons ; that she has placed them among the shallows of
the sea-shore, where the agitated element polishes them by
the continual motion of its waves, in order to throw them
within their reach ; and that, as if to excite the astonishment
of untutored men, she places shells of unrivalled lustre in
regions exposed to the fury of the elements, while at the
same time she presents the poor Patagonians with spoons
and cups, the lustre of which surpasses the richest plate of
polished nations.

24) INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

But why, illustrious naturalist, did your observations ex-
tend no further? Saw you nothing, in these darkly-coated
and brilliantly-tinted shells, but an arrangement of bright:
colours to please the eye of taste, or cups and spoons for
the rude inhabitants of savage districts? Saw you not that
the Almighty Creator of the universe (without whose per-
mission a single hair does not fall from our heads, nor a
lonely sparrow to the ground, neither is a shell or a pebble
rolled by the billows upon the shore,) provides against
their utter extinction through the depredations of sea-birds
and rapacious fishes, by investing them in simple colours,
while at the same time he spreads abroad for these a constant
supply of food, in the desolate sites of earth or ocean
which they are appointed to occupy ?

The Roman naturalist noticed with admiration the trans-
formation of several species of caterpillars from an interme-
diate state to that splendid investiture of spring, when still
preserving their identity, and having passed from the base-
ness of a worm, they burst the silken shroud which envelopes
them, and traverse the air in a form that is dazzling to the
eye. The Egyptians apparently referred to this interme-
diate state, and to the change which follows it, in the con-
figuration of their mummies; for the most ancient are

HABITATIONS OF MOLLUSKS. 95

swathed and filleted, so exactly after the fashion of the
Eruca or chrysalis, that the resemblance could not be acci-
dental. The sages of that country, who expressed all
their notions by symbols, also signified the supposititious
transmigration of the soul by the transformation of the
insect ; and the Grecian poets, improving on this idea, made
use of the same symbol to designate its immortality. In
like manner the botanist confesses, in the unfolding of the
calyx which covers the gaudy head of the oriental poppy,
an attractive emblem of the expanding of the human mind,
as it emerges from a state of ignorance; and in the gradual
development of a plant, the progressive advancement of
every moral excellence.

And shall no tender or appropriate emblem rise in the
mind of the conchologist, when he observes the tints of the
aurora, or the colour of gold or purple amethyst emerging
from under a rough tartar, or shaggy epidermis? ‘The
Christian philosopher confesses in the humble mollusk a
striking emblem of human nature m a savage or unconverted
state, without beauty, without comeliness, destitute of all
those graces which exalt the man, or adorn the Christian.
But, behold, the hand of the refiner is upon him: he
emerges from the veil of obscurity which had previously

26 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

invested his moral faculties; or rather, to borrow the
emphatic language of inspiration, ‘ He is quickened, when
dead in trespasses and sins; he stands forth in all the per-
fection of his nature, and remembering that he is no longer
his own, that he is bought with a price, he seeks to glorify
his Maker with his body and his spirit, which are His.” *
To return from this digression. We admit that shells
are beautiful, and that they are admirably adapted to the
exigencies of the wearer; but how shall we account for the
endless diversity of shades and colours, varying from the
sober coating of the garden snail to the delicate and glowing
tints which are diffused over some of the finer species, in
the infinite profusion of undulations, clouds, spots, bands,
and reticulated figures, with which these admirable architects
enrich the walls of their beautiful receptacles? The means
of producing them must be sought for mm the animals them-
selves. Their mantles are furnished with pores replete with
colouring fluid, which blends insensibly with the calcareous
exudation already noticed, and thus occasions that exquisite
variety in their testaceous coverings, which art attempts to
emulate, but can never fully equal.
Thus far the result of observation and experiment. It
* Ephes. ii. 1.

HABITATIONS OF MOLLUSKS. 27

now remains to account for the extraordinary fact that the
stony exudations of testaceous animals condense only on
those parts where they are essential to their welfare. But
here investigation ends—the microscope has done its office.
It seems as if maternal nature delighted to baffle the wisdom
of her sons; and to say to the proud assertors of the suffi-
ciency of human reason for comprehending the mysteries of
Creation and of Providence, ‘Thus far canst thou go, and
no further.” Even in the formation of a shell, or its insigni-

ficant inhabitant, your arrogant pretensions are completely
humbled !

‘Proud, scornful man! thy soaring wing
Would hurry towards Infinity :
And yet the vilest, meanest thing
Is too sublime, too deep for thee ;
And all thy vain imaginings
Lost in the smallest speck we see.
It must be so:—for He, even He
Who worlds created, formed the worm;
He pours the dew who filled the sea,—
Breathes from the flower who rules the storm :
Him we may worship,—not conceive ;
See not, and hear not,—but adore ;
Bow in the dust, obey, believe ;
Utter his name, and know no more.”’
Bowrine’s Matins and Vespers.

CHAPTER ITI.

GEOGRAPHY OF SHELLS.

There is most perfect order in all things;

The smallest sea-weed hath its growing-place,
The humblest shell its rock, or cove, or bay,

Or ocean-haunt. And tribes there are that dwell
Apart in sunny climes; by ice-girt rocks

Dwell some of sober hue; and some delight

To range all seas, from Indus to the Pole.

THe geographical distribution which universally prevails
throughout the animal and vegetable kingdoms, is a subject
fraught with the deepest interest. It brings before the
mind some apprehension of the harmony and order of the
universe ; of those fixed and certain laws, which even the
humble mollusk seems instinctively to obey.

As yet the sub-marine provinces of shells have not been
traced with the same accuracy as those of terrestrial animals
and plants; but sufficient has been ascertained to prove that

GEOGRAPHY OF SHELLS. 29

even in the plams of ocean, where apparently no barriers
exist to prevent the onward progress of innuimerable
mollusks, their boundaries, both with regard to latitude and
longitude, will be found in general well defined.

Some species attain a full development in warm latitudes,
and are restricted to the torrid zone; others abound in tem-
perate climates; and many, of small size and less highly
coloured, inhabit the arctic regions.

Cones, which are mostly inhabitants of deep water, are
nearly all tropical ; their vivid colours seem im accordance
with the aspect of vegetation in sunny chimes. Cowrves also
belong to the same latitudes, with the exception of one or
two small grooved species that are found on our coasts. New
Holland and the Pacific have each their species, and the
C. pantherina is brought in great abundance from the Red
Sea. Cymbiums and Melons are found in Australia; but the
greater number are from the coast of Africa, where they
burrow in the sand at low water, and live mostly concealed
from view.

Beautiful Volutes strew the shores of Australia, New
Guinea, and New Zealand ; afew species, those of the Brazils
and Ceylon, Timor, and Western Africa. Peculiar as regards
their places of abode, they rarely inhabit localities where

30 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

Mitres abound. In the Philippine islands, where Mr.
Cuming collected between two and three hundred species,
scarcely a Volute was to be seen.

Marginelle are mostly found within the tropics; while
the Zerebre chiefly inhabit the eastern world, and are pecu-
har to warm temperatures, one species only reaching so far
north as the Mediterranean. O/ives are exclusively confined
within tropical regions ; and the Vasse are equally restricted
to the southern and tropical portions of the globe.

The Magilus especially effects the shores of the Red Sea ;
the Harps those of Ceylon, the Mauritius, and the Philip-
pine islands. Cassides, or Helmets, are found in the same
localities as the Magi/us, with the addition of Ceylon and
the West Indies. S¢ruthiolaria inhabit the shores of New
Holland ; and the finest specimens of Rostel/aria are from
China and the Moluceas. Others, unlike the restricted tribes,
are generally distributed throughout the globe. Stroméi
are found im places the most dissimilar, such as the West
Indies and Australia, Ceylon, and the Red Sea. Tritons
equally reward the labours of conchologists, whether searching
for them in the United States, or the Cape of Good
Hope, along the shores of New Holland, or those of the
Moluccas.

GEOGRAPHY OF SHELLS. 31

Cancellaria, Chitons, Fissurelle, and many beautiful
genera are associated with the memory of the Incas in Peru ;
they also bring to mind the Gulf of Panama, where Pearl
fisheries abound; China, with its pagodas and Mandarins,
the classic shores of the Mediterranean, and the Eastern
Archipelago, for such are their favourite localities.

The Gulf of Tarentum and the coast of Naples and Sar-
dinia afford varieties of porcelain shells, with Pecteus of all
hues. The island of Sardinia is celebrated for a fine species
of white Oyster; and Corsica, Majorca, and Minorca, for
the Pinna marina, the Silk-worm of the ocean. Bright
yellow Ancillarig and orange-brown Hburne are found on
the shores of New Holland and Japan; and the solitary
Concholepas, resembling a compressed cornucopia, has alone
been discovered at Peru.

There is scarcely, on the contrary, any limit to the geo-
graphical distribution of the Neritime, save mm the arctic
regions, and cold temperate zones. The genus is represented
by a humble but very delicately painted specimen, on the
shores of Britain; and numerous varieties abound in the
West Indies, and throughout the great continent of America.
This extensive genus is equally diffused in South Africa

32 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

and the Eastern world. Magnificent specimens were col-
lected by Mr. Cuming in the Philippines, in Sumatra also,
and other islands of the Oriental Archipelago.

The range of the Helix putris is considerably extended,
and comprises a great variety of soil and climate, from dark
Norwegian forests to sunny Italy, creeping at its slow and
stealthy pace throughout the United States and Newfound-
land, Jamaica, Tranquebar and the Marianne Islands. The
margin of pools and streams, where aquatic birds resort to
bathe and dress their feathers, are his favourite haunts ;
hence the dispersion of the H. putris is readily accounted
for. The eggs being generally affixed to the stems and leaves
of water-plants become attached to the feathers of such birds
as resort among them, and are in consequence widely disse-
minated.

The H. aspersa, one of the most common among our
larger land shells, is dispersed in ike manner through places
the most dissimilar. St. Helena and the foot of Chimborazo,
in South America, reveal its olive-coloured shell, as also
the citron groves of Cayenne. But with this difference,
it is conjectured, that the species bemg considered nutri-
tious, were imported from casual ships; their power of
sustaining life without air or nourishment during the longest

T YN ra
: Wing’,

th.

Piatesiiks

Reeve & Nichols

GEOGRAPHY OF SHELLS. oO

voyages, being equalled only by their ready assimilation
with opposite climates.

It seems, also, as if some unknown causes affected not only
the hue but the size of shells. Peron and Lesueur remark that
those pertaining to the Haliotis gigantea of Van Diemen’s
Land, and the Phasianella, diminish in size as they follow
the coasts of New Holland northward of King George’s
Sound, and that they entirely disappear beyond them.

Obstacles without doubt exist to the migration of various
species, such as continuous lines of continents stretching
from north to south. Were it otherwise, the Nauti/us, and
Argonauta, and Ianthina would everywhere abound; but
the reverse occurs; and hence the molluscous inhabitants
of shells that pertain to the West Indies cannot enter the
Pacific without passing through the inclement regions of
Cape Horn. Currents, also, flowing permanently in certain
directions, with the influx at prescribed points of vast quan-
tities of fresh water, limit the extension of many species.
Those which love deep water are arrested in their progress by
shoals; others, fitted by their construction for shallow seas,
cannot migrate across those yawning chasms that open in the
bed of ocean. The nature also of the ground exercises an
important influence both on land and water shells. Some

D

34 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

species prefer gravel ; others, a fine sand; others, again, con-
ceal themselves in mud. Limestone rocks are especially
resorted to by various species of the genera Helix, Clau-
silia, Bulimus, and others.

In dredging the Agean Sea, Professor E. Forbes disco-
vered eight well-defined zones, each characterized by its pecu-
liar family of shells. The first, termed by conchologists the
littoral zone, extended to a depth of two fathoms only, and
though in itself a narrow belt, was tenanted by more than
one hundred species. The second region, embedded at the
depth of ten fathoms, was almost equally populous ; and a
copious list of species is given as characteristic of each
region down to the seventh, which lay between the depths
of eighty and one hundred and five fathoms. Deeper still,
appeared an inhabited space included in the eighth province,
where no less than sixty-five species of Mollusca were dis-
covered. Of these, the majority, beyond the mfluence of
light, were equally white and transparent.

We might speak more at length concerning the marine
deposit of bright shells on the coasts of Cayenne, with those
of Madeira and the Straits of Magellan. We might mention
that curious specimens of Z7ichotropis have been found at
Icy Cape; and that the Murex trunculus, the Tyrius Murex

GEOGRAPHY OF SHELLS. 35

of Ovid, still exists beside the ruins of the ancient Phcenician
city of Tyros; but the imstances already cited will suffice
to show that different kinds of mollusks, equally with
animals and plants, have their assigned localities, and that
some specimens of great beauty appear as if restricted to
certain portions of the globe.

Such, then, are a few localities of the shell tribe; of those
first-fruits of the ocean which make the heart beat with
delight in discovermg and possessing them. How vividly
that bright moment recurs to my remembrance, when the
deep proud sea first rose upon my sight ;—when I first
heard the loud cry of the returning sea-gull, and saw the
dancing waves bound upwards, as if in defiance of the rocks
that repelled them. And how pleasingly, too, arises the
thought of those glad hours when the sportive billows threw
up their beautiful Sea-weeds and Shells, with long, trailing
Fuci, and light grey Corallines ;—when ocean seemed to say,
Stranger, you have, perhaps, travelled far, and seen much
of groves and gardens, of inland valleys and green hills ; but
the earth, from which you spring, and on whose bosom
myriads have lain down to rest, brings neither to the heart
nor to the imagination that vivid delight which my ever-
varying productions yield. There is somewhat of sadness

D2

36 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

blended with all of earth’s productions; they fade and
change ; they tell of by-gone days, and of friends who may
not greet again her beautiful interchange of fruits and
flowers. But mine are always new: no sad thoughts are
blended with them, for the steps of mortals are not upon
my fields. All that my billows throw forth to the bright
sunbeams are fresh and beautiful; and it is not till they
have been received on earth’s dull bosom, that they partake
of her nature and begin to fade.

What bear ye now, ye dancing waves,
In your wild delirious play ;

Sea-weeds or shells, from the coral caves,
Where the flocks of ocean stray ?

I have waited long *mid the deafening roar,
And the spray of your revelry ;

Oh, spread ye now, on the sounding shore,
Those gifts from the deep, deep sea.

Our steps are not on her pathless plains,
Where the beauteous sea-weeds grow,
And the Pinna weaveth her silken chains,

By the light of the Sea-star’s glow.

Oh, the light of that lamp, how it purely beams,
In the midst of the deep, deep sea,

Lighting her halls where the rapt bard deems
Are wonders no mortal may see.

GEOGRAPHY OF SHELLS. 37

For who can walk where the Nautilus hides,
When her silken sails are furl’d ;

Where retreat in their fury the baffled tides
From the shores of this upper world 2

Wonderful creatures are haunting there,
In the tumbling and tossing main ;

Coral insects are rearing their fabrics fair,—
A busy, ephemeral train.

Oh, the works of men are not form’d to last,—
They crumble and fade away ;

Time’s noiseless tread or the wintry blast
May hasten their sure decay.

But the island on which his proud steps tread,
Where his home or his grave may be,

Those small workmen have rear’d, and their fabrics spread,
Bright gems of the deep, deep sea.

The sea-bird soars in the eddying spray,
From those isles, mid the wild waves’ foam ;
And beautiful things, which the tides convey,
Strew the shores of each sea-girt home.

Sea-weeds, and shells, by the sparkling waves
As in sport on the wild shore hurl’d ;

Sprays of coral, broke off from old ocean’s caves,
In the depth of the briny world.

38

INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

Oh, the flowers that look up from this smitten earth,
As with hope, to the realms of air,

Though of showers and sun-beams the beautiful birth,
Take a hue from our deep cast of care.

But those gifts of the tossing main
From the hues of our fortune are free;

No thought of the past with its sadness may stain
Those gifts of the deep, deep sea.

39

CHAPTER IV.

Sus-Kinepom MOLLUSCA.

** There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in our philosophy.”

CrPHALOPODS, a group of active, voracious animals, stand
first in the molluscous series. Their name is derived from
two Greek words, signifying a head and foot, and their
physiological condition is not much inferior to that of fishes.
They are all marine, inhabiting deep water, and only a
limited number produce a shell of any particular substance.
The head and body resemble an oblong bag, of which the
upper portion is crowned with numerous arms, or tentacles,
covered with suckers; and, as their name implies, they walk
with the head downwards.

GAsTROPODS comprise a numerous class, whose habits are
less active than those of the preceding, and in whom the

4.0) INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

masonic art is more fully and variously developed. They
equally inhabit sea and land; some are even found sus-
pended by a peculiar kind of net-work to the boughs of
trees; others inhabit rivers and stagnant pools. Their heads
and eyes are distinctly formed, and they move readily by
the aid of a contractile and expanding disc.

Prerovops include a limited class of small, twilight, deep-
water swimmers, which move readily, as their name indicates,
by means of a pair of wing-lke fins. These creatures
produce a small brittle shell, resembling glass.

LAMELLIBRANCHIATES are next in the descending scale
of organized beings. They form an extensive tribe, whose
mantle is divided into two lobes, each with a separate piece
of shell, connected by a horny ligament. The érauchia, or
breathing organs, are arranged in thin plates; and, strange
to say, the group is uniformly headless: a considerable
number are even incapable of motion.

Bracutovops, last of the molluscous series, have also a
bivalve shell, and are uniformly without a head. This
group is parasitic; their peculiarity consists in having a
pair of spiral arms, and they are differently placed within
the shell.

THE CEPHALOPODS. 4]

Cuass I. CEPHALOPODA.

Strange creatures range the deep; methinks stout hearts

Might quail before them; huge mis-shapen forms,

Such as the earth owns not, nor men have fed

In quiet pastures; yet allied to these,

Are such as poets love, and oft have sung,

By classic streams.
THE Cephalopods, or Head-walking mollusks, derive their
name from a peculiar manner of crawling upon their arms
and tentacles, with the head downward. They present an
interesting link between the vertebrate and imvertebrate
divisions of the animal kingdom: between fishes on one
side, and operculated Gastropods on the other. Like the
former, they possess an internal cartilaginous skeleton, and
are able to speed swiftly through the waters by the aid of a
caudal and pair of side-fins; like the latter, three of them
secrete a testaceous mucus, and construct a calcareous
apparatus, consisting of an involuted shell. Those unpro-
vided with any shell are extremely numerous, and of the
most hideous aspect.

The creature herself resembles an oblong bag crowned
with arms and tentacles, often of immense length, and
provided with numerous suckers, that act as cupping-glasses
when the creature has secured her prey.. The head, which

4.2 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

seems to peep forth from out a membranaceous bag, has a
strong pair of horny mandibles resembling the beak of a
parrot, and on each appears a large conspicuous eye, endowed
with great quickness of vision. The tribe are consequently
well fitted for a predacious mode of life, and are formidable
enemies to their watery neighbours. Those only who have
witnessed the persevering activity, power, and velocity of
motion exercised by the Octopus, or Cuttle-fish, when en-
gaged in his destructive practices among a shoal of fishes,
can form an adequate idea of his quickness of vision and
locomotive powers. Swift as thought his hard-beaked man-
dibles become buried in the ill-fated victim, which he holds
fast by his numerous tentacles; and then, in one moment
unloosing his thousand suckers, and disengaging himself
from his prey, he darts like an arrow from the net of the
fisherman, which has been cautiously moved towards him, in
the hope of making him a prisoner.

Octopi of enormous size are occasionally met with among
the islands of the Meia-co-shimah group. Sir Edward
Belcher measured one of these ungainly creatures, which two
men were carrying on their shoulders across a pole. He
found that each arm was rather more than two feet long,
and that the mollusk could, in consequence, explore an area

THE NAKED CEPHALOPODS. 43

of more than twelve feet in circumference. The same
naturalist frequently observed the Sepie and Octopi in full
predatory activity; and he had great trouble and difficulty
to secure them, so great was their restless vivacity, and so
vigorous their efforts to escape. They darted from side to
side in their watery haunts, or fixed themselves so tenaciously
to the roots and stones by means of their sucker-like aceta-
bula, that it required great strength to detach them. When
captured and thrown upon the sand, they still progressed
rapidly in a sidelong, shufflg manner, extending their long
arms, ejecting their ink-like fluid in sudden violent jets, and
staring about in a very grotesque and hideous manner, with
their huge shining eyes, which at might are luminous like
those of a cat.

Such are the terrific relatives of the chambered Nautilus :
creatures which have been mentioned in the earliest records
of natural history, though little was known with regard to
their immediate relation with the testaceous mollusks, until
the appearance of a living Nawti/us, during the last century,
established this interesting fact.

Two of the Cephalopods construct shells, and in only one
such instance does the shell appear designed for the dwell-
ing of its inhabitant ; they are widely distributed throughout

4.4, INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

the globe, inhabiting deep waters, and seldom seen except at
night. Some of the unclothed brotherhood possess an in-
ternal rudimentary shell : the Cuttle-fish (Sepia), for instance,
has an oval plate; the Calamary (Zoligo), a long horny shell,
resembling a quill-pen ; and the Onychoteuthis, a thin oblong
shell, like a three-edged sword. The highly organized and
finned, enjoy more rapid powers of locomotion than such as are
encumbered with a shell, but are less adapted to find their
home in very deep water. The Sepia is less protected than
many others against the attacks of his enemies; but then he
is provided with a mode of self-defence which the well-
armed Nautilus does not possess. He carries with him a small
bag full of black, inky fluid, and when danger approaches he
darkens with it the surrounding water. Thus enabled to
elude the vigilance of his pursuers, he readily escapes ; while
the baffled foe is suddenly enveloped in a darkness deep as
midnight. Proteus-like, he has other means of escape, and
often may the wily creature be seen changing colour, after
the manner of a chameleon, and bewildering his enemy, when
in hot pursuit, by the strange aspect which he instantaneously
presents.

Others of the same family are also provided with ink-
bags; but in these a considerable difference exists. Such as

THE PEARLY NAUTILUS. 45

wander defenceless on the bosom of the ocean are gifted
with the power of producing more intense discharges of ink
than others of an isolated character, which seek to hide
themselves in the cavities of rocks. The same variety of
adaptation is also observable in their locomotive powers.
Wandering Cephalopods are furnished with a pair of lateral
fins, by aid of which they move rapidly in their native
element ; some few have caudal fins, which enable them to
swim backwards; the tentacles of others are webbed around
the base, like the foot of a duck, and this configuration not
only increases their power of swimming, but facilitates
their springing out of the water, like flying-fish. Their
suckers have ofttimes a formidable character, appropriate to
their predacious mode of life; occasionally they assume the
appearance of claws, and the fishermen are greatly afraid of
them. The sense of vision is very strong in these strange
mollusks; many have even the power of turning their great
eyes completely round, in a manner similar to those of the
chameleon.

Naturalists and poets have especially delighted in the
Paper and Pearly Nauti: : creatures mentioned with brief
but marvellous accuracy by Aristotle, when describing the
results of a scientific voyage, which he was deputed to

4.6 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

undertake during the reign of Alexander the Great, in order
to collect subjects for a natural history of animals, at least
three hundred years before the Christian era. The philo-
sopher seems to have met with both the Paper and Pearly
Nautilus; for he notices the one as having a shell, though
not adhering to it, as feeding frequently along the shore,
and liable, when cast by waves upon the sand, to slip from
out his shell, and perish in consequence; concerning the
other, that he dwells within his shell after the manner of a
snail, and outwardly extends his arms.

Such is the brief yet accurate description given by Aris-
totle concerning these strange creatures. But centuries
elapsed before they attracted any further notice, till the
time of Pliny, and subsequently about the beginning of the
eighteenth century, when Rumphius, a Dutch merchant and
naturalist, residing at Amboyna, thus spoke concerning
them :—~ When they float upon the water they put forth
their head and all their tentacles, and spread them upon
the surface; but at the bottom of the sea they creep in a
reverse position, with their boats above them, and their
head and tentacles upon the ground, making a tolerably
quick progress, creeping sometimes into the nets of the
fishermen; but after a storm, when the weather becomes

THE PEARLY NAUTILUS. 47

calm, they are seen in troops, floating on the water, being
driven upwards by the agitation of the waves. Their
sailing, however, is not long; for having taken in their ten-
tacles, they upset their boats, and so return to the bottom.”
This account, published at Amsterdam more than a hundred
years since, is mainly correct, although perhaps a little exag-
gerated ; for Nautili are never seen in fleets, nor yet are they
so familiar as to walk into the nets of fishermen.

Another century elapsed; and, although the waves con-
tinually brought up and deposited shells of the Nautilus
upon the shore, no one seemed to care for them, till
a naturalist of the name of Bennett succeeded in cap-
turing a female individual when calmly floating in the bay
of Marakini, at the island of Erromanga, New Hebrides.
The living specimen was considerably shattered in attempting
to secure it, and the shell, beg much broken, was injudi-
ciously removed. A minute portion, however, adhered to one
of the lateral expansions of the belt, and Professor Owen,
to whom the specimen was transmitted, was enabled to con-
firm the history of this remarkable animal, as given by
Aristotle more than two thousand years before.

The soft parts of the animal became in consequence the
subject of an elaborate memoir, and are ascertained to form

48 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

a kind of oblong mass, capable of fitting into the aperture
of the well-known shell. The outer portion presents a
perfectly developed head, furnished with a pair of strong
horny mandibles, and a number of sheathed tentacles, a
pair of large eyes also, and organs for hearig and smelling ;
and over all these extends a capacious leathery hood, with a
concavity fitting to the convex form of the shell, and having
apparently a hinge-like movement, analogous to the lid of a
box, by means of which the tentacles and delicate portions
of the head may be readily covered over. The lower portion
of the animal contains such viscera as are essential to her
welfare; she has, moreover, a central tubular membrane,
which, passing the siphon apertures of the different com-
partments, extends completely through the convolutions of
the shells from one chamber to another, until it is fastened
to the inner wall of the first-formed chamber. And, as if
further to strengthen this all-important hgament, around it
is a thin layer of horny matter called the belt ; and the mem-
brane itself possesses a degree of elasticity which readily
enables it to be extended as necessity requires. The creature,
therefore, can let herself down, and whirl round and round,
as it were upon her axis, by the limited extension of this
membranous pulley; which operation, however, ceases when

Plate LV.

W.Wing? , ith. Reeve & Nichols, imp.
3 F :

THE NAUTILUS. 49

she arrives at maturity, and the membrane, being no longer
wanted, most probably decays.

Such, then, is the conformation of this wondrous creature.
As regards the forming of her shell, she is conjectured, when
in embryo, to construct a simple hollow shell, the nucleus
of a spiral coil, from which she partly emerges ; and, in order
to fulfil her destination, she divides the empty portion of her
dwelling into compartments, between each of which she
forms a calcareous partition-wall.

The natural position of a Nautilus is with the back of
her head and concavity of the hood against the chambered
portion of the shell; the funnel resting on the outer con-
cave lip, the tentacles protruded over the side-margins of
the aperture, and the body retained within the shell by the
membrane and its horny girdle. Thus constructed, the
creature makes her way along the sandy bed of ocean with a
moderate degree of rapidity, carrying her boat after the
manner of a snail; and though in general remaining tranquil
in her watery haunts, she has undoubtedly the power of
rising and floating on the surface.

Poets have sung concerning her sails and oars, that to
her belongs the power of unfolding the one at pleasure, and
of using the other with which to impel her fairy boat :—

E

50 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

“The Nautilus and the Ammonite
’ Were launched in storm and strife ;
Each sent to float in her tiny boat
On the wild, wild sea of life.

** And each could swim in the ocean’s brim,
And anon its sails could furl;
And sink to sleep in the great sea deep,
In a palace all of pearl.”

Pope, in like manner, when recurring to the earlier condi-
tion of society, assumed that man first learned the art of
navigation from the Nautilus :—

* For thus to man the voice of Nature spake:
Go, from the creatures thy instruction take ;

Learn of the little Nautilus to sail,
Spread the thin oar, and catch the driving gale.”

Recent observations have, however, dissipated the illusions
of past ages and the fantasies of poets. But although the
Nautilus has neither sails nor oars, she is enabled to rise
from her dwelling in the fathomless abyss, and to float on
the surface of the water.

“No star has she to guide her way,
Nor Tyrian cynosure.”’

Yet still she saileth on, progressing without chart or
compass, and, undeterred by the perils of the deep, propel-

THE NAUTILUS. 5]

ling her mimic vessel by the most simple and expeditious
means,—that vessel which no human hand has formed—
guided by no human skill: a striking proof, amid the terrors
and the wonders of the ocean, that, whilst nothing is too
great for the controlling powers of Omnipotence, nothing is
too humble for his protecting care.

The human mind, even when unassisted by the hght of
revelation, could arrive at this conclusion; and hence, not
only trees and flowers, nay, even the most curious shells
were supposed to be under the control of, and peculiarly
favoured by some presiding Deity. Thus, while in Syria
the Buccinum was anciently dedicated to Astarte, in Greece
the elegant Chambered Nautilus was peculiarly the care of
the famous Kgyptian priestess, Arsioé, who was worshipped
as a goddess, under the names of Zephyrites, Venus, and
Chloris; a fact which Callimachus has recorded in the fol-
lowing beautiful lmes, wherein he commemorates the dedica-
tion of a Nautilus to this supposititious deity by Silencea,
the daughter of a nobleman of Smyrna :—

A sacred shell, Zephyrites divine,

Fair Silencea offers at thy shrine ;

And thus thy Nautilus is doubly blest,

Since given by her, and still by thee possest.

E 2

52 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

Of late, small tackling from my body grew,

Thin sails I spread when winds propitious blew ;
But when the seas were calm, to gain the shores,
I stretched my little feet, like lab’ring oars,
And, from my busy limbs and painted side,
Was called a Polyp, as I stemm’d the tide;

Till driven by winds on Coan rocks I shone,
And now recline before Arsinoé’s throne.
Depriv’d of life, no more on seas I rest,

Or draw young Halcyons from the watery nest ;
But be this boon to Clinea’s daughter given :

A virtuous maid, and fav’rite of high heaven ;
The precious boon may Silencea gain,

When she from Smyrna ploughs the watery main.

We learn from this beautiful little poem that the Nautilus
was not only supposed to feed on the eggs of the halcyon,
or kingfisher, but that the appearance of these birds upon the
waters was considered a favourable omen; Silencea therefore
propitiates the goddess, that she may be indulged with the
sight of them during her voyage.

The shell of the Pearly Nautilus has been an object of
great interest since the period of its first discovery: at one
time dedicated to the Egyptian priestess, at another pre-
served as a most precious treasure, on account of its sur-
passing beauty. It is made into a drinking-cup by the
inhabitants of the East, and curiously engraved with various

THE ARGONAUT. 53

devices ; having first removed the outer coating, and thus
rendered visible the pearly substance of the shell beneath.
An exquisite specimen was exhibited among the curiosities
of Fonthill. The decorations were executed in the first
style by Hillican; the subject was the triumph of Neptune
and Amphitrite. It was elegantly mounted in silver gilt,
embossed, and decorated with finely-engraved shells, with
masques and Cupids, and a coat-of-arms and helmet, beau-
tifully pierced and worked in gold.

Shells of the Paper Nautilus are equally curious and
interesting as those of their relative the Pearly Nautilus ;
but although the occupants of both belong to the same
class, their habitations are very different. That of the
Pearly Nautilus presents a somewhat elaborate structure ;
it forms a strong protection to the soft parts of the animal,
and is partitioned into chambers,—a simple mechanical
construction, yet wonderfully adapted to assist the specific
gravity of its inhabitant. That of the Paper Nautilus, on
the contrary, is merely a light elastic case, constructed by
the female of a shell-less Cephalopod for the reception of
her eggs,—a marine cradle, which presents a beautiful
adaptation of means to a desired end.

This marine cradle is not moulded on the body of its

54, INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

constructor, but deposited from without, with little or no
attachment to the animal; a fact which led to the supposi-
tion, that the inhabitant was merely a parasitic intruder,
which appropriated this kind of shell to her own use, when
the lawful owner was either absent or else unable to defend
his nghts. But at length the real condition of the mollusk
was ascertained by the united observations of M. Rang and
Madame Power, a lady resident at the port of Messina.
Having captured a number of Argonauts, and kept them
alive ina large cistern, she observed, not only that eggs
were deposited within the shell, but that when, after the
lapse of twenty-five days, young Argonauts emerged to life,
in twelve days more the two front arms became dilated at
the extremity into a pair of membranous webs, and com-
menced forming a thin filmy shell. The front arms are,
therefore, analogous in their calcifying qualities to the
mantles of other mollusks ; and when the creature begins to
form her boat, she expands the membrane, and deposits a
thin wavy layer of shell matter, working somewhat slowly,
yet very surely, till she has moulded a symmetrical boat or
car, for the reception of her eggs. M. Rang relates that he
saw several living Argonauts whilst rowmg in the port of
Algiers, all of which had their arms extended to the sum-

THE ARGONAUT. 55

mit of the keel, thus forming a kind of bridge over the
cavity that contained their eggs, their prominent eyes
glancing in all directions, while their suckers corresponded
to the tubercles, and the membranes, expanded over the
shell, gave an impression of quiet enjoyment. While looking
at them, and observing their progress through the water
with their shells foremost, he was led to the conclusion that
their movements were produced, not by an exertion of the
arms, or any expanding aloft, as sail, of their membranous
webs, whereby to catch the breeze, but rather by inspiring
and rejecting water, i and out of the branchial cavity; the
shell meanwhile beimg firmly grasped in the embrace of the
expansile membranes. And thus, as regards this interesting
species, have recent discoveries served to dispel the poetic
illusions of past ages, which ofttimes delighted us in
childhood. With regard to the animal inhabitant of the
Argonauta, there is reason to believe that she is extremely
sensitive of danger; that any alarm causes her to withdraw
her arms ; and that when thus thrown off her guard, she has
great difficulty in maintaining her hold. Should this occur,
and the terrified creature becomes disengaged from her
vessel, she cannot re-enter the home which she has so
elaborately constructed, to resume the guardianship of her

ad

56 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

eggs; she may float about for a short time, and look wist-
fully at her pilotless bark, but presently the waves overwhelm
her fragile form, and she sinks in the abyss.

Farewell, beauteous Mollusk, the Deep’s fairest daughter!
Thy dirge faintly soundeth from out the dark sea;

From the halls of the Nereids, far down in the water ;
And sad are my thoughts, O thou lost one, of thee!

’Mid the sparkle and flash of the waves scarcely heaving,
’*Mid the seas of the Tropics, when far off from shore,

I have seen thy small bark; and the poet’s fond dreaming,
Seemed true, as he sung from old Tiber’s green shore.

The sea-stars had lit up their coral-paved dwelling,
And the Nereids looked forth by their light o’er the sea ;
They watch’d for thy bark, as the waves, proudly swelling,
Floated back from our shores in their triumph and glee.

But they bear thee not now, and the Nereids are weeping,
Lest thy tiny bark gladden their wild haunts no more ;

Yet still their fond watch the bright sea-stars are keeping,
And the conch of the Triton is heard as of yore:

That the music and stars, ’mid the rush of the wild waves,
May guide thy frail bark through the night-glooming sea.
But, alas for the Nereids, who watch in their sea-caves,
The bark and its pilot they never may see.
Concerning the Spirw/a, naturalists spoke in former times
without any reference to its occupant. A small spiral shell

found onthe shores of New Zealand excited their admiration,

THE SPIRULE. 57

and those who passed by might linger to observe the singu-
larity of its construction; but not till the days of Peron, an
enterprising voyager, who collected and brought to Paris a
mutilated specimen, was anything knowu of its animal in-
habitant. True it was that the tentacles were broken off, yet
sufficient still remained to assist Lamarck in establishing the
relation which its chambered shell suggested with the Nauti-
dus. Since then other specimens have come from abroad ;
and one, brought by the indefatigable Cranch, equally as-
sociates his name, and the ill-fated expedition of which he
formed the brightest ornament, with this interesting species.
The construction of this little Cephalopod recalls to mind
both the Cuttle-fish and Argonaut. Like the former, he
has numerous arms, and like the latter, two tentacles, about
five or six times the length of his arms, and terminated by
a small rounded, indented club. The suckers are sprinkled
in a somewhat irregular manner over the inner surface of
the arms, whereas in the Argonaut they are arranged in a
double row; they are, moreover, very small, and resemble
a sprinkling of coarse sand. The Spirule, like the Nautilus,
has a chambered, siphonated shell; but here the similarity
ends, for instead of being external, and serving as a pro-
tection to the inhabitant, it is internal, imbedded within the

58 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

lower part of the mantle; and the siphon, mstead of passing
through the centre of the chamber, 1s on the inner side.
Strange it seems that the shell should be found in such
abundance without its occupant,—a fact confirmed by Dr.
Hooker, the enterprising botanist of the Antarctic expedition,
who relates that he saw thousands of the Spirule shell scat-
tered on the shore at Paroah bay, New Zealand. M. Menke
also describes them as frequent on the coast of New Holland.
The shell is not dependent on the attachment of a muscle,
like the Nautilus, nor on the prehensile embrace of a pair
of arms, as in the Argonaut; and hence the soft parts must
apparently decompose before the shell can be released.
Cicero refers to the ocean and its habitants as affording
irrefragable proofs, in connection with the general order of
creation, of the existence of a presiding Deity. ‘“ How
beautiful,” says this enlightened heathen, “is majestic
Ocean! How delightful to contemplate its vast expanse of
waters, varied with islands and continents! How innumer-
able and diversified the multitudes of living creatures which
it contains; some dwelling in its deep recesses, others
sporting on the waves, others, again, adhering to the rocks !
Who can observe the beauty of the universe, the order of
the celestial bodies, the risimg of the sun and moon, and

ADMIRATION OF THE DEITY. 59

the motion of the stars, without being convinced that the
world was not formed by chance,—that God alone is able
to be the creator and director of so many wonders?”

This heathen philosopher, and his equally unenlightened
countryman, the eminent natural historian Pliny, delighted
to acknowledge in their works the shadowy forms of Pagan
superstition, which they supposed to control, not only the
passing events of life, but also the varied wonders of crea-
tion. They brought to bear upon the subject, which
engrossed their profoundest contemplations, all the feeble
light which they possessed. They regarded, as through a
darkened glass, the dispensations of all-ruling Providence,
and faintly looked up to the Parent of gods and men; and
shall we, who walk in the clear light of the gospel dispensa-
tion, refuse to acknowledge Him, who framed this well-
ordered world,—who spread the firmament, as a tent to
dwell in,—and who gives to his own glorious heaven all its
unutterable joys and splendours, which no mortal eye could
steadily behold ? Shall we be ashamed to avow, that once,
travelling in human form, He entered this magnificent
museum, and sojourned among the wonders which His hand
had made, to reveal at once what God is, and what man
ought to be? Heathens might discover an eternal power,

60 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

a surpassing wisdom, an undefinable benevolence, in the
signs and wonders of creation. Heathens might acknow-
ledge a stupendous liberality in the economy of the whole
fabric,—in its garniture, and astonishing accompaniments
for the use of man; but the Christian philosopher should
ever bear in mind his forfeiture of them, and the price paid
to redeem them; he should accustom himself to receive the
gifts of a benignant Providence, as from the hand of an
indulgent Mediator.

61

CHAPTER V.

Ciass II, GASTEROPODA.

Painting and poetry are most glorious gifts,

Which God hath given, with their sweet sister, Music,
To cheer life’s pilgrim. © Earnest, methinks, are they,
Of high things yet to come, when earth shall cease
Her groanings for deliverance. Nor less pure

Is that calm, inexpressive love of nature,

Which leads the enthusiast to the green hill’s side,
Or streamlet’s bank, or by the billowy shore,
Lingering and listening to the sea-bird’s cry,

Or winds contending round the cliff storm-bleached,
Making a solemn concert with the billows,

That ceaseless come and go; great Nature’s pulse.

Cicero, whom Seneca designates as a genius equal to the
majesty of Rome, draws a delightful picture of the rural
occupations of Scipio and Ceelius, at Caieta and Laurentum,
when, retired from the restless pursuits of interest or
ambition, they grew young in their amusements, and again

62 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

derived pleasure from gathering shells on the sea-coast.
Cranch too, the elegant and scientific explorer of the Congo,
delighted in the same pursuits. Neither difficulties nor
dangers impeded his researches. He climbed rugged pre-
cipices, and was frequently lowered down by the peasants
from the summit of tall cliffs. He waded through rapid
streams, explored the beds of muddy rivers, and sought the
deepest recesses. He would even relinquish the comforts
of domestic life, and venture out to sea, at Dawlish, for
several days, entirely alone, or in the small skiffs of the
fishermen ; employing his time in dredging when the tide
was full, and examining the coast when it was out. At
night he slept in his boat, which he drew to shore; and
when the weather was too stormy for marine excursions, he
would leave his little skiff, and explore the woods and fields,
for birds or insects. No inclemency of weather, nor alter-
nations of storm and sunshine, ever interfered with his
favourite pursuits; the discovery of a new shell, or bird, or
insect, amply repaid the most hazardous exertions.
Previous, however, to enlarging further on the localities
of shells and their extraordinary beauty, it will be needful
to speak concerning the distinctive characteristics of the
second class, the Gastropods, comprising an extensive series

STRUCTURE AND HABITS. 63

of mollusks, of which the typical structure is that of a long
and conical mass, partly contained in an enlarged spiral
shell, which protects the soft and visceral portion; partly
protruding, in its broad extremity, from the aperture of the
shell, and comprising the head and mantle, the nerves and
gills and muscles, with a broad, fleshy, muscular, expansile
disc, mostly attached to the neck, which acts the part of a
foot, and alternately contracts and dilates.

These creatures are extremely numerous, and of consi-
derable interest. They present .extraordinary varieties of
form and colour; of sculpture also, for their domes are
elaborately carved and adorned ; and their diversity of habit
is equally remarkable. The greater number are marine,
and yet colonies abound in lakes, and stagnant pools, and
rivers, dwelling also on land or climbing trees ; and as their
breathing apparatus is necessarily adapted to the places they
inhabit, the respiratory organs, together with certain modi-
fications in their arrangement, are selected as characters,
whereby to distribute the class into orders.

Such is the merest outline of this interesting class. Let
us consider the further peculiarities of their structure.

In Gastropods, the head forms the outer extremity, and is
mostly rounded and prominent; it possesses from two to

64 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

six tentacles, or feelers; and the eyes, which never exceed
two in number, are situated either at the base of the tentacles,
or at the summit, or some intermediate part. These ten-
tacles are somewhat sensitive to the touch, and in the
Snails the mollusk withdraws them by inversion, for which
purpose a nerve reaches internally to the summit.

Three ranges of cords represent the nervous system of the
Gastropods: the first pertaming to the head, the second to
the mantle, the third to the gills, each with its assigned
office, either as regards the well-being of the animals or the
place it is designed to occupy.

The breathing apparatus consists, in those which inhabit
water, of two or more branchiz, or gills, either concealed or
exposed; in such as dwell on land, or mhabit trees, it con-
sists of a net-bag or lung; in those which are amphibious it
presents a modification of both. Some few of the marine
species feed on sea-weed ; but more generally they are car-
nivorous, preying ofttimes upon their brethren, or fulfilling
the same office in the water, as jackals and hyenas, Nature’s
scavengers, perform on land. Most of the terrestrial kinds
are herbivorous, for which purpose they are furnished with a
horny armature on the upper lip only ; carnivorous mollusks,
on the contrary, are provided with a rasping plate or tongue,

STRUCTURE OF THE GASTROPODS. 65

or a pair of finely toothed jaws, or a flexible trunk,
which admits of being lengthened or drawn within the
body, the extremity of which is cleft and supplied with
numerous small recurved teeth capable of considerable exe-
cution. The common Whelk offers such an instance of
the retractile trunk; and the circular hole found drilled
in bivalve shells is due, most probably, to its destructive
agency.

Concerning the muscles, it will be necessary to speak of
such only as serve to attach the shell. In simple univalves,
the muscle of adhesion sometimes encircles the back in the
form of a horse-shoe. This peculiarity is conspicuous in
Fissurella, while in the Cup-and-saucer Limpet, Calyptrea,
it is attached to the cup-like appendage which distinguishes
the group. In such as are spiral, the shell is concealed by
a thin, riband-lke muscle, attached to the axial pillar or
columella, by the elasticity of which the animal advances
its head and foot, when need requires, and again retires
within the last whorl. Instances, however, are not wanting,
where a spiral Gastropod, desirous to relinquish a portion of
his shell, has the faculty of sliding the attachment of the
columuar muscle without relaxing it, in a manner analogous
to the shipping of the muscular girdle in a growing Nautilus.

F

66 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

Other contrivances are obvious, in different kinds of mol-
lusks. The Bulimus decollatus, and many species of Pupa,
allow the early portion of their shells to fall away,—a poet
perhaps would tell you, for the pleasure of roofing over the
whorls by new concentric layers ; and doubtless the creatures
take much delight in varymg and adorning the fairy-like
domes in which they dwell. Why else does the Magzlus, that
singular tenant of the coral rock, fill up the deserted portion
of his shell with testaceous matter ; or the Cowry adorn his
dome-shaped dwelling with the most exquisite embellish-
ments ?

An additional muscle further belongs to such species as
possess an operculum, for the purpose of drawing that ap-
pendage within the aperture. The operculum is a shelly or
horny plate, adapted mm most species to answer the purpose
of a door, by closing the aperture of the shell ; occasionally,
however, it is merely a small, thin, horny plate, of which the
object is unknown.

A low degree of sensibility belongs, apparently, to all
Gastropods. Some species are even capable of reproducing
any member, when accidentally destroyed. Some, also, re-
main torpid for a great length of time ; and an instance is
recorded in the ‘ Hlements of Conchology’ of some Helices

VITALITY AND OVIPOSITION. 67

having been received from a distant locality and kept in a
dry lumber-box for two years, after which they revived from
their torpid condition when placed on a moist fresh leaf.
And yet, however deficient in the sense of feeling, all Gas-
tropods exhibit great ingenuity in repairmg any injuries
done to their shells; and considerable skill is exercised in
absorbing or smoothing down such spines or irregularities
as disarrange their plans or obstruct their growth,

It seems, also, as if they liked to exercise their ingenuity
in constructing nests, or cradles, for the reception of their
eggs. Who does not admire the nest of a small bird, framed
of leaves and mosses, and curiously lined with feathers ?
But not less ingeniously formed is the nest of the tree-
loving Bulimus, which cements together a little cradle of
leaves for the reception of her beautifully white eggs, which
are nearly as large as those of a pigeon. The Whelk deposits
her eggs in thin, bladder-like capsules, curiously wrought
together ; the Zurbinel/a, in a long chambered nidus, in each
compartment of which are from twenty to thirty embryos ;
and the Janthima encloses her little progeny in a delicate
film-lke bag, which she attaches to her curious float; this
done, and having securely fastened their several cradles, or
nursery cells, she detaches the float, which rapidly ascends

F2

68 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

to the surface of the water, and thus exposes the ova to the
full influence of solar light and heat.

The science of Conchology continually presents fresh sub-
jects of interest to its votaries; and as regards the general
habits of the Gastropods, many interesting phenomena have
become developed. The greater number attach themselves to
marine rocks, or masses of stone ; they also creep into cavities
and crevices, and hide in tufts of coral, or among sand and
mud. The Magilus even fixes his stationary abode in a growing
mass of white coral; but then, in order to maintain a neces-
sary communication with the surrounding element, he alters
his spiral mode of growth in accordance with the increase
of the coral, and pursues a nearly straight course, in order
to keep pace with the advancing surface of his rocky bed.
The lanthina, or Sea-snail, and the S¢ylifer, are equally
deserving of brief notice: the first, a creature that floats on
the bosom of the ocean by means of numerous air-bladders
affixed to the foot; the second, of parasitic habits, living
imbedded in the soft parts of the Star-fisb.

Shells belonging to the class of Gastropods are either of a
spiral or conical structure. Among these the first are most
numerous, though without including any specimens of equal
weight and dimensions with the Giant Clam of Bivalves.

GROWTH OF THE SHELL. 69

The typical structure is that of an enlarging conical tube,
winding obliquely from left to right, by reason, probably, of
some peculiar tendency in the vital organs of the animal.
The axis upon which the tube winds, is called the axial
pillar, or columella; every turn round this axis is termed a
whorl ; and when the columella is hollow, it is said to be
umbilicated. Modifications exist in different species; and
while some convolutions are extremely simple, others are
elongated or depressed. Of this, the shell of the Caracolla
parmula, which is so much flattened in its spiral tube as
to present the form of a slightly convex lens, offers a fami-
har instance. The form of such as pertain to the second
division varies, from the deeply depressed cone of the Um-
brella, to the extreme conical elevation of Dentalium. In
one genus, C/iton, the shell consists of eight distinct pieces,
moving one upon the other within a cartilaginous frame,
and bearing no small resemblance to plate armour. In the
Aplysia, the shell is merely represented by a concealed horny
plate, deposited by an internal fold of the mantle. There
are likewise shell-less members of the same community,
called Nudibranchiata, or Naked-gilled Mollusks, which
present beautiful varieties of tufted and ramified structures
along their backs, They afford no ornaments for the cabi-

70 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

net, and, therefore, are rarely sought for; but their varied
forms, and adaptation to their native habitats, are among
the wonders of creation.

The land species of such mollusks as belong to the class
Gasteropoda, offer extreme modifications of depressed growth.
The reasons of this are obvious :——their visceral portions are
contained within a smaller space than those of their carnivorous
brethren ; they have no occasion for teeth and rasped plates,
nor a complicated digestive apparatus. It is otherwise with
the flesh-eating tribes, and hence they have greater powers
of shell-making. A ponderous, massy shell is often the pro-
duction of an animal which apparently does not require such
a spacious mansion ; but, though large, they have no external
ramification, when constructed by terrestrial species, and
little variety of sculpture ; whilst such as inhabit the water
beautify their homes with ribs and tubercles, with plates,
and spines, and fronds.

Seven distinct orders belong to the series of Gastropods,
each of which are characterized by varieties in the respira-
tory organs :—

Order I. Pectrntprancutata.—Including numerous mol-
lusks, of which the dranchia, the gills or breathing
apparatus, are arranged for the most part in parallel

hE

hE.

IN,

v.

Vik

DISTRIBUTION INTO ORDERS. ya

lamine, like the teeth of a comb, and are contained
within a cavity in the upper part of the neck. Some
of the tribe are carnivorous; others, herbivorous. The
former are universally distinguished by a siphon, or
siphonal appendage passing out of the basal channel of
the sheli, for the purpose of conveying water into the
branchial cavity.

PuLmoBraNncutaTa. — This order includes the whole
of the pulmoniferous, or air-breathing Mollusca. Their
respiratory organs form a kind of vascular net-work,
lining a cavity in the back; while the mantle is perfo-
rated in that part which covers it, the orifice being
furnished with a small fleshy valve, which the animal
opens and shuts at will.
PLEUROBRANCHIATA.—Distinguished by the gills being
situated on the right side.
CeRVICOBRANCHIATA.—With gills situated in a special
cavity in the neck.

CycLoBRANCHIATA.—Gills placed in a circle round the
edge of the body.

CrrROBRANCHIATA.—Cirrous, or hair-like gills.

VII. Nucreoprancuiata.—Comprising a class of mollusks

which exhibit a very distinct peculiarity of organization.

72

INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

Their feathered branchiz are enclosed in a nucleus,
protruding from the back, and covered in one or two
instances with a transparent glassy shell. The central
disc is represented by a gelatinous fin, and the animal,
scarcely ever at rest, swims with considerable activity.

Place ae

aS 2G
ca =

W.Wing Lith.

ateeve & Nichols qmp

73

CHAPTER VI.

FAMILIES OF PECTINIBRANCHS.

Oh, for an eye to scan the depths of ocean ;

To note where dwell those strange and wondrous forms

Tnstinct with life, that work in caves,—it may be

Where sunbeams wander never; nor soft airs,

Breathing perfumes from clover-fields at evening,

Shed fragrance as they pass.
We now proceed to the consideration of different shells
that pertain to the Gastropod class, with especial reference
to their molluscous inhabitants, and the exquisite variety
of form and tinting which are wrought or painted by those
artists of the ocean.

Family 1. Convouvra.

This family comprises an interesting series, in which the
whorls of the shell are convoluted one over the other, with-
out obliquely descending, so that the sutural extremity re-
mains almost upon a plane with the top of the spire.

74. INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY,

Among the most interesting of these are the Cones, whose
similarity of form constitutes a natural and well-defined
group; for any difference of structure consists chiefly m
the depression or elevation of the spire, the thinness or infla-
tion of the whorls, and in the spiral edges being either plain
or coronated. Striking variations, however, occasionally
happen; and it must be borne in mind, that such are com-
mon to different individuals of the same species. Some,
for example, are found with the spire at one time plain,
at another, coronated; and the surface of many, in like
manner, is either smooth or granulated.

The Cones mostly inhabit deep water, and nearly all are
tropical ; they essentially require a warm region, and hence
only one or two are found so far north as the Mediterranean.
Like all tropical Fauna, they present a vivid colouring, and
their decorations are of exquisite workmanship. ‘The mol-
luscous inhabitant of the Conus gloria-maris, or the Glory
of the Sea, is, apparently, endowed with an astonishing inge-
nuity of design. The white ground of its turbinated and
cylindrical shell is covered with the finest possible triangular
lines, of a delicate dull reddish hue, and encircled with
blotched bands of exquisite tintmg. The Orange Admiral
Cone, C. aurisiacus, zoned with white and rose-colour, and

THE CONES. 15

tesselated with white, crimson, blackish, and brown spots,
and the C. cmperialis, or Imperial Cone, encompassed with
yellow and chestnut bands, and varied on its surface with
purple black dots and solid lmes, stained here and there
with blue, exhibit the most elaborate painting. And hardly
may the finest specimens of gold brocade equal the Cloth-
of-Gold Cone; or the most careful productions of the
loom, such elaborate meshes as are seen in the Abbot, or
Queen Victoria Cone. The Conus mercator is distinguished,
also, by an elegant net-work, composed of faintly waved, yel-
lowish lines; the Purple Cone, C. purpurascens, is encircled
with fine purple and white necklaces; and vivid hierogly-
phic spots, with three orange zones, embracing the upper,
lower, and middle portion of the shell, distinguish the
Letter-marked Cone, C. literatus.

Cones have the siphon in general much elongated, and
curved upwards and backwards over the shell; the head
somewhat projects, and is furnished with a retractile pro-
boscis, in some instances situated on the outer side near the
extreme end of the tentacles; in others, in the middle; in
others, even at their outer bases. The creatures themselves are
often handsomely marked and marbled; but more generally
are less briliant in colour than the shells which they inhabit.

76 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

The genus becomes more numerous and varied in colour
as we approach the equatorial seas. Mr. Adams relates that
they seem to prefer fissures and holes in marine rocks, espe-
cially among coral reefs, living in warm shallow pools within
the barrier, where, although slow-moving, they lead a pre-
datory life,—robbers of the ocean,—that bore into their
neighbours’ shells for the purpose of extracting the juices
on which hfe depends. They crawl but slowly, and usually
with their tentacles in a straight line before them, and yet,
though robber-like, are very timid, and shrink within their
shells on the approach of danger. Some affect deep water ;
and one was dredged by the naturalists of the Samarang, in
the Sunda Straits, in thirty fathoms; another, the Conus
thalassiarchus, at Sooloo, in about forty fathoms.

This beautiful genus predominates in the Asiatic region,
where upwards of one hundred and twenty species are ascer-
tained as peculiar; while only two or three are known in
Europe, about twenty in Africa, thirty in Australia, and
fifty in America. Some few are venomous ; the Conus aulicus
—with its beautiful proboscis of red and white—is capable
of inflicting a severe bite, accompanied by skarp pain,
making a small, deep, triangular mark, succeeded by a watery
vesicle. Sir Edward Belcher was bitten by one of these

THE COWRIES. 77

Cones, at the little island of Mayo, belonging to the Moluccas,
near Ternate. The creature, on being taken from the
water, suddenly darted forth his proboscis, and made an
incision in the hand by means of his tongue, which is long
and armed with two ranges of sharp-pointed teeth. The
pain produced by this sudden wonnd resembled that which
is occasioned by phosphorus.

The Cowries, pre-eminent in interest and beauty, whether
as regards the animal or shell, present two distinct groups :
the larger, in which the surface of the shell is lighly
enamelled; and the smaller species, in which it is dis-
posed in grooves and ridges, of more opake character and
delicate texture. They offer little variety of form, but a
diversity of colourmg; and among them are several very
distinct and characteristic species, of unusual rarity. Of
these, the Cyprea princeps and leucodon, 1 our national
collection, are perfectly unique, and may be regarded as
being among the most valuable shells yet discovered.

Others of the same family exhibit the most exquisite fan-
tasies of embellishments. The Arabic Cowry is distinguished
by lines of hieroglyphies, which cross the dorsal surface
from one extremity to another; a miniature firmament of
stars, of different degrees of magnitude, with curious sand-

78 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

like strie, characterize the little Calf Cowry; the Red-
spotted is ornamented on each side with a single reddish-
chestnut spot; and a beautiful economy and delicacy of
bright sienna painting, upon a clear cream-coloured ground,
renders the C. Saw/a an object of peculiar admiration. Lastly,
the rare and beautiful Orange Cowry, worn as an ornament
by chiefs in the Pacific islands, is distinguished by its bright,
unspotted, orange teeth and interstices, while the base and
sides, and extremities are milk white.

The Ovula, or Kgg-shells, also belong to the family of
Convoluta, differing mainly from the Cypree in having
the extremities more or less prolonged, and in the lip and
columella being destitute of the prominent row of teeth
which characterize that genus. Another distinction con-
sists in the Ovudum having neither any pattern nor design
of colour, nor has it any tinge beyond a faint yellow, violet,
or pink.

A distinguished conchologist of Nice, M. Risso, founded
the genus Hato, with a small shell, chiefly inhabiting the
Mediterranean, intermediate im its characters between Cy-
prea and Marginella, and forming a striking link between
the families Convoluta and Columellata.

19

Family If. CotumMenata.

The shells are beautiful: look well upon them,
And thmk no longer that they sprang to life,
As radiant flowers unfold at dawn of day,
Instinct with beauty. Dwellers in the shells
Have wrought these wonders.

The Columellata are characterized by four or five con-
spicuous plaits winding obliquely round the columella, with
a notch at the base, or rather front edge of the shell, when
viewed in its natural position upon the animal, for the pas-
sage of the respiratory organ.

Five genera belong to this family.

The animal inhabitant of the large Melon shells varies
from that of Voluta in the size and extensive muscular
expansion of the disc; the shells are, moreover, distin-
guished by their hght inflated growth, and sunken papillary
spire, around which the whorls are elevated, with their sum-
mit sometimes concavely flattened, sometimes coronated
with a diadem of vaulted scales. One or two species are
found in Australia; but the chief portion are from the
coast of Africa. They burrow in the sand at low water,
and live mostly concealed from view.

80 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

In the new and beautiful monograph recently published
by Mr. Reeve, of which that gentleman has permitted
me to avail myself, the Volutes are admirably figured, and
largely described. This genus, termed by an accomplished
writer the nobles of Zestacea, as Linnzeus, in his admiration
of exotic palms, called them the princes of the vegetable
world, has ever been a favourite with shell collectors. Only
seven species were known to Lamarck ; but recent concho-
logists have ascertained at least sixty-one species, as also
that the geographical range of the Volutes is peculiarly
Australian. The extending of our empire, therefore, into
that distant portion of the globe, of which the fauna and
the flora are singularly distinct from those of other regions,
has given to the English collector a decided advantage in
obtaining species and varieties, of which many are extremely
rare.

Volutes uniformly present an agreeable variety of form
and lively arrangement of colour; and in reviewing the
various modifications of character, our attention is naturally
directed to the most permanent feature of the genus,—the
plaits of the columella. These are mostly four or five nm
number, strongly developed, and windmg round the pillar
somewhat obliquely, yet occasionally reduced to two or three,

VOLUTES. 81

varying slightly in different individuals of the same species,
and even exhibiting four or five strong plaits, with several
finer rudimentary plaits in addition.

Somewhat of inconstancy pertains also to the form of the
Volute ; the same species being at one time elongately con-
voluted, with the spire proportionably exserted ; at another,
shorter and contracted, as also either smooth or tubercled,
just as a Cone is smooth or granulated; and the closer and
more contracted the growth of an individual, the thicker
and more prominently is the shell raised in tubercles.

“The most decided characteristics for the distinction of
species are to be found in certain parts of the shell, such as
the apex and the base, with the general contour of the
body-whorl, and its texture and substance, the outline of
the aperture, and, above all, in the general design of paint-
ing. However much a species may differ in its plan of
convolution, the parts referred to are the same; and how-
ever variable a species may be in colour, there is but
one idea in its pattern and manner of distribution. There
is more constancy in the pencil of the Volute than in the
colours of its palette.”

In most species the apex is blunt and papillary ; that is,
the first two or three whorls, constituting the nucleus of the

G

$2 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

shell, are smooth and polished, forming what has been
termed a papilla, before either a pattern or sculpture is de-
veloped. Mr. Reeve has adduced various instances of modi-
fication in the apex: he mentions that such are umformly
accompanied with distinctive features in other parts of the
shell, serving to characterize groups, and divide the genus
into subgenera or sections; that, further, except in the small
V. abyssicola, the only living representative of a group of
fossil species found abundantly in the Tertiary beds of Great
Britain, there is no transverse sculpture in this genus.

Linneeus included under genus Volwta all shells having
a row of plaits winding round the columella, without con-
sidering the nature or habits of their animal occupants.
Conchologists of the present day have rectified this error by
separating such as were originally, and in the infancy of
science, comprehended under the same generic type.

The occupant of the Voluta differs little from that of the
Cymbium, except in being smaller, less expansile, and more
richly tinted. It has the same peculiar lobed dilation
of the respiratory siphon; and the eyes, as in that genus,
are rather distant from the tentacles. The living species
hitherto figured are brilliantly coloured ; but there is no
similarity between the colour or pattern of the animal and
its shell.

VOLUTES. 83

The geographical distribution of the Volutes is noted by
Mr. Reeve as worthy of careful attention. Of sixty-one
species at present known, twenty-four inhabit the coast of
Australia. Throughout the great Hastern Ocean, spreading
from Java to Japan, only twelve are found; seven are from
different parts of the coast of Africa, including Madagascar ;
six from South America, east and west; and four inhabit
the West Indian Seas and the Gulf of Mexico. The loea-
lity of the remaining eight species remains unknown.

It is, therefore, obvious that the Volutes have peculiarly
a southern range. Only sixteen species are found north of
the equator, whilst there are thirty-seven in the southern
hemisphere ; two of which, /. Magellanica and ancilla, of
large size, inhabit the coast of Patagonia and Tierra del
Fuego, in the same parallel of latitude with Scotland and
Hudson’s Bay, in the opposite hemisphere. Yet the Volutes
do not approach the Mediterranean, or any part of Europe ;
and very curious is the fact, that the fine and beautifully
coloured V. musica is the only species found in the West
Indies, excepting the small 7. Gucldingii. An equally
small species, the VY. guttata, allied to this, inhabits the
coast of Honduras; and it is believed that the celebrated
V. Junonia, of which only a few specimens are known, is

a2

84. INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

from the Gulf of Mexico,—probably the northern shore,
near the mouth of the Appalachicola river. Only two species
have been found on the western coast of South America,
V. harpa and Cumingii ; and concerning the African species,
tneir precise localities are unknown, excepting that of the
V. Delessertiana of Madagascar, and the beautifully cancel-
lated V. abyssicola, dredged from a bank of dead shells and
iron-stones, at the depth of one hundred and thirty-two
fathoms, off the Cape of Good Hope.

Such are the distinctive characteristics and geographical
distribution of the Volates; among which, the Magnifi-
cent Volute, Voluta magnifica, is of a light fulvous colour,
clouded, and more darkly broad-banded with rusty chestnut,
having transverse lanceolately-angled pale spots; columella
orange-carnelian.

The eminently beautiful Yo/uta aulica, or Courtier Vo-
lute, has been known for many years, by a specimen con-
tained in the celebrated museum of the last century, be-
longing to the Duchess of Portland. it is described in the
‘Portland Catalogue’ by Dr. Solander, a Swedish natu-
_ralist and pupil of Limneus, who visited this country,
and accompanied Sir Joseph Banks in his voyage round the
world with Captain Cook, and who subsequently was em- -

VOLUTES. S85

ployed at the British Museum in arranging the valuable
collections of natural history resulting from their enter-
prise. And thus has Dr. Solander written concerning the
Courtier Volute :—‘ No. 4021, Voluta aulica, a beautiful
red-clouded species of the Wild Music kind; its country
unknown, unique.”

This fine specimen passed from the Portland Museum
into that of M. Calonne, then into the collections of the
Earl of Tankerville and of Mr. Broderip, lastly into that of
our national museum, where 1t remained unique until the
return of Mr. Cuming from his voyage among the Philip-
pine Islands, during which he obtained several magnificent
specimens from the Sooloo Archipelago, yet mostly differmg
from the original one in being tuberculated. Of these, Mr.
Broderip characterized six new varieties in the ‘ Proceedings
of the Zoological Society’ for 1843; and with reference to
his own description of No. 4 a, exquisitely figured in the
‘Conchologia Iconica, he remarks, that when considering
the novelty and lovely arrangement of colour in this admi-
rable specimen, he felt that description would convey but a
faint idea of one of the most beautiful shells he ever saw.

Another species, the Voluta innexa, or Knitted Volute,
hitherto undescribed, and of which the locality is unknown,

86 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

is figured mm the same splendid work. ‘The entire surface
is covered with a remarkably fine scarlet-brown net-work,
very closely arranged transversely, so that the triangular
spots of white, which appear here and there, are unusually
longitudinal, whilst the three bands, which are somewhat
indistinctly formed by a darker deposit of the colour, are
unusually narrowed.

Conspicuous, also, is the Voluta piperata, or Peppered
Volute. The painting of this beautiful species in all its
detail is too minute to be rendered faithfully. But the eye
rests upon its general form and hue with peculiar pleasure,
as figured in the same work. The entire surface is peppered
with small orange-brown dots, and over this are numerous
rather distant jagged olive-black streaks, running in zigzag
style from the sutures to the base. About one-half is
partially obscured, at intervals, by three bands of greenish-
white film, the pattern being seen through it. The
species is at present unique, in the collection of Thomas
Norris, Lisq.

New and beautiful Volutes, with some of extreme rarity,
are figured in the ‘Conchologia Iconica,’ and, while looking
at them, the mind recurs with equal delight and thankful-
ness to the gift thus given, for transferring the forms and

VOLUTES. 8

hues of those exquisite productions, which must otherwise
remain in a great degree unknown. Among these, the
noble growth and bright scarlet colouring of the Handsome
Volute, Voluta festiva, are exlibited in drawings from mag-
nificent specimens in the collections of the Rev. W. R.
Crotch and Mr. Dennison. The shellis, doubtless, from the
coast of Africa, but whether the eastern or western remains
undecided. Admuirably figured, also, is that eminent shell,
the ‘ Pavillon d’Orange’ and Orange Flag of early writers
—the Flag Volute, /. vewil//um, still of rare occurrence, and
unapproachable by any other species of the genus. The
bright orange bands of painting which characterize the
shell mostly become divided, on reaching maturity, into
two shreds. Neither can the Angled Volute, /. angulata,
be omitted. The shell is mentioned as chiefly remarkable
from the curious fact, that the animal, which is elegantly
spotted all over like a leopard, has a lobe extending from
the mantle on the left side, after the manner of a Cowry.
It does not, however, secrete a vitrified enamel, but a
milky glazed coating, hke Cymbiuwm, through which the
zigzag marking is mostly visible. ‘“‘ In a specimen before
me,” writes Mr. Reeve, “from Mr. Dennison’s collection,
the shell is entirely covered with this glazed coating, flowing

88 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

even beyond the apex, and the marking is obliterated,
whilst the columella and interior of the aperture is of a
rich carnation-colour.”

M. D’Orbigny observed this species on the coasts of
South America, ranging from the mouth of the Rio de la
Plata, north of Buenos Ayres, to the Bay of San Blas, in
Patagonia, where it lives imbedded in the sand. Having
captured a specimen that was advancing from its hiding-
place in the water, he kept it alive for several days in a
glass vessel, during which time the creature walked about,
enveloped by the lobe of its mantle.

The genus Mitra constitutes a numerous division of the
family Colwmellata, and is equally admired for the symme-
try and the variety of colour exhibited in its three hundred
and thirty species.

Linneus arranged the Mitres with Volutes ; but Lamarck
separated them, on account of important differences, of
which not the least obvious is their shell being long and
turriculated, with a marked change in the arrangement of
the columellar plaits, which, instead of increasing, diminish
in size as they descend. The animal is small, the head
triangular, with tentacles at the basal corners, and the eyes
are situated either towards the middle or the base, upon

MITRES. 89

short peduncles; the respiratory siphon is small, and not
dilated into lobes at the base, and the trunk is capable of
remarkable elongation; lastly, their habits vary, and they
differ in geographical hmits.

Three hundred and thirty species, as already noticed,
pertain to the genus Mitra; and in these, what imfinite
variety! No two individuals are alike. Some are beau-
tifully varied and adorned, others are neatly finished. It
seems, however, that the constructing inhabitant, although
loving to adorn his mansion, is a creature of limited sensi-
bility, and that his powers of locomotion are necessarily
restrained by the overbalancing proportions of his shell; or
else, that being furnished with the means of lengthening his
trunk to an extent not assigned to any other genus, and
having the extremity terminated by a kind of dentated
chewing apparatus, by aid of which he is enabled to capture
his food with little apparent effort, and without altering his
position, he prefers to devote his energies to forming an
ample dwelling, and adorning it with the most exquisite
specimens of art.

The Mitra Norrisii, or Norris’s Mitre, dedicated by Mr.
Reeve to that esteemed patron of the natural sciences,
whose magnificent collection of Mitres is, perhaps, un-

90 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

rivalled, is covered with a reticulated sculpture, so ex-
tremely fine, that the interstices of the net-work resemble
minute punctures.

The superb Mitra Stainforthii, Stainforth’s Mitre, is of
a whitish tint, while the base and apex are of an ashy blue,
and the ribs painted with square bright red spots.

Observe the beautiful and costly Riband-filleted Mitre
(Mitra vittata), a yellow or bright orange shell, zoned
with white, and encircled with several blackish-brown fillets ;
the Serpent-marked Mitre (Mitra serpentina), recognized
by its orange-tinted bands, and the serpentine character of
its longitudinal markings; and the Mitra militaris, or
Military Mitre, which is readily distinguished by the
broad crimson-red zone which encircles the last whorl.
Nor less worthy of notice is the Modest Mitre (Mitra
modesta), a very chaste pink-white shell, with a highly
relieved latticed sculpture; nor yet the Red Mitre (Ahitra
rubra), a beautiful little semitransparent red shell, which
presents a striking contrast to the hard, polished, blackish-
brown shell of the IWtra bilineata, or Two-lined Mitre,
which derives a name from the two distinct yellow lines by
which it is encircled. The solid ivory-white Mitra festa
is also deserving of particular notice, with the Pleasant

PURPURIFERA. 91

Mitre, encircled by a dark band, and the clear pale yellow
Mitra crocea, or Yellow Mitre, having an orange mouth,
as also the Mitra corallina, or Coral Mitre, a species, of
which some specimens resemble bright amber, and others
red coral.

No particulars of interest are recorded with regard to

the remaining genera of this family.

Family If. Purpurirera.

How beautiful, in all their varied forms,

Are these choice sea-shells,—some of gaudy hue,
And some of quaint device ; and wondrous, too,
The ocean artists, that with matchless skill
Have thus devised them.

Shell terminating at the base, either with a short slightly
ascending canal, or with a deep sinus; but the only dis-
tinguishing character of the family is found in the basal
sinus, that posterior portion of the shell which is fitted to
the passage of the respiratory siphon, conveying water to
the branchial cavity.

Poets have sung concerning the sea-green sisters, and
their curious webs, woven beneath deep waters im caves,
where grows the coral, and where their warbling voices

92 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

are heard in unison with the murmuring sound of waves
that come and go; but far more beautiful are the
shells of ocean, wrought by those concerning whom no
poet has yet sung. Strange, fantastic-looking creatures
are they, and yet endowed with faculties for design which
an earthly artist may in vain hope to emulate. We have
spoken of their exquisite decorations, as shown in the
Cone, the Cowry, and the Volute. As respects the inha-
bitant of the latter, a striking contrast of colour exists,
when compared with his habitation: the same peculiarity
is obvious in the mollusk of the Purpurifera; and the relation
of form is equally remote. In that of Doliwm the animal is
green or mottled blue, without the slightest approximating
tinge in the shell; he is also characterized by an ample mus-
cular disc, and a remarkable lengthening of the proboscis, ter-
minated in the D. perdix by a flattened funnel-like rosette ;
whilst the shell is chiefly distinguished for its comparative
tenuity. The resident in the Harpa has a richly coloured
disc, extending beyond the outer extremity of the shell, nearly
toa peak. In some of the Buccina this member is expanded
on either side the aperture, and truncated behind into a flat
square. In Oliva and Ancillaria a modification is appa-
rent, which somewhat resembles the lobate structure of the

TEREBRA. 93

Cowry, which, being reflected mto an ample fold, is able to
envelope the whole shell ; while the locomotive and calcifying
organs are extremely limited in their dimensions, owing to
the confined nature of his habitation, although the latter
is exercised with a degree of surprising energy.

Twenty-four genera belong to the family Purpurifera ;
among which the Zeredra and Oliva, the Hburna, Bulla,
Buccinum, and Magilus, the Purpura, Dolium, Harpa, and
Cassis, are deserving of particular attention.

The animal inhabitant of Zerebra has a small head and
tentacles, and the entire mass rarely extends beyond a tenth
of the shell. But, although encumbered with a shell ten
times the length of his body, the creature is far more
active than his relative the Mitre; his shell, though longer,
is not of such overbalancing proportions, and the weight
being chiefly at the base, enables the mollusk to move some-
what readily, by the force with which he secures his muscular
disc to some contiguous rock or tuft of sea-weed.

Terebre chiefly inhabit the eastern world, and are re-
stricted to warm temperatures ; one small species, only,
extending as far north as the Mediterranean.

The enamelled exterior of the Olive-shell indicates that
it is more or less enveloped, like the Cowry, with a portion

94 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

of the animal; it is not, however, covered by the mantle,
but rather protected by a modification of the disc. The
mantle itself is limited to the interior and aperture of the
shell: it appears to be furled over the edge of the lip, and is
held, as it were, in a state of tension by a cord or filament,
passing from the posterior extremity into a deep, narrow
channel, excavated round the spire of the shell, in place of
the suture. The result of this difference in the calcifying
organ is extremely curious. In the Cowry the testaceous
fluid is deposited from the outside in layers, at different
intervals ; in the Olive, it is secreted in layers simultaneously
at the lip, and the porcellaneous surface of the shell is
preserved in its different stages of growth, as well as after
its maturity, by a reflection of the ventral disc, in a manner
somewhat analogous to the reflected mantle of the Cowry ;
having nought to do with the formation of the shell, how-
ever ministering to its preservation by the tendency of its
viscid humour.

Bvery period in the life of a Cowry, as already noticed,
is designated by a different design of colouring. It is
otherwise with the Olive, which uniformly exhibits the same
appearance from youth to age: different layers of colouring
matter must consequently be deposited at the same time,

EBURNA. 95

because the building organ reaches only to the lip, from
which the shell gradually recedes im its progress of growth.
One and the same purpose is, therefore, effected by
different means, which are equally beautiful and curious
in their results. But, though the shell of the Olive offers |
no outward indication of progressive growth, yet, if the
outer coat be removed by chemical agency, a superincum-
bent layer of different colour and design becomes visible.
Thus, while the external coating of the Oliva utriculus is
of an obscure milky blue tinge, a dark ashy ground,
sprinkled with numerous triangular opal-like dashes, is
revealed by the application of an acid; thus, also, when
the outer layer of the Oliva Brasiliensis is removed, a
longitudinally striped pattern becomes apparent.

Olives are confined exclusively to the tropical regions.

The genus /éurna includes a natural, though extremely
limited, group of species; and, although a peculiarity of
colour is rarely regarded as an element in the character of
a genus, it constitutes, in the present instance, a feature
which cannot be overlooked. The species are each distin-
guished by a blotched and tessellated painting of orange-
brown, upon a white ground ; the apex throughout is black,
and the columella and interior of the aperture white.

96 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

The animal carries a horny operculum at the hinder
extremity of a stout, thick, oval, and pointed disc, that fits
exactly to the aperture of the shell. The head is large,
bifurcated in front into two elongated tentacles, at the
outer base of which are the eyes; the mouth is armed with
a cylindrical trunk, and a somewhat long respiratory siphon
adds to the singularity of the creature’s aspect. _

The Z. spirata and Zeylanica are found abundantly in
Ceylon ; those selected for illustration in the ‘ Elements of
Conchology’ are from Japan, and of great rarity.

The Latin word Buccinum, a trumpet, was indiscrimi-
nately applied by the ancients to every kind of spiral uni-
valve shell. Linnzeus adopted the term in a more restricted
sense; but we owe to Lamarck a dividing of the Buccina
into several acknowledged genera.

Larger species of the genus Buccenum are still used by
Italian herdsmen in directing the movements of their
cattle, and a variety of sonorous sounds may thus be readily
produced. They are also common in North Wales, where
IT have often heard their deep and hollow sounds breaking
on the silence of those alpine districts, when used by the
farmers in calling to their labourers. ‘Triton, Neptune’s
trumpeter, is generally pictured with a shell of this de-

Plate VI.

W. Wang ath Reeve & Nichols, imp.
. ; .

TRUMPET-SHELLS. 97

scription in his hand, with which ancient poets fabled that
he convened the river deities around their monarch. It
is wreathed, like those called Sihanos, or Sea-horn, common
to India, Africa, and the Mediterranean, and still used as
trumpets for blowing alarms or giving signals; a custom
thus elegantly noticed in the following lines :—

“* When the roused youth impatient flew
To the tower wall, where, high in view,
A ponderous sea-horn hung, and blew
_ A signal deep and dread, as those
The storm-fiend at his rising blows,
And there, upon the mouldering tower,
Hath hung this sea-horn many an hour,
Ready to sound o’er land and sea,
The death-dirge of the brave and free.””— Moore.

Shells of the same description are common in Lithuania
and Muscovy, where they are also applied to pastoral pur-
poses. No sooner is a herdsman risen i the morning,
than he winds his horn, and the horses, mules, oxen, asses,
goats, and sheep, immediately leave their respective places
of retreat, and assemble round their conductor. He then
advances at their head, and leads them into such pasturage
as he thinks proper for the day. A second signal conducts

H

98 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

them to the waters; and a third commands them home,
where each repairs to his shelter for the mght. Thus
beautifully has Isaiah referred to this ancient custom,
which is still common in the East :— The ox knoweth his
owner, the ass his master’s crib; but Israel doth not know,
my people do not consider.”

In Palestine, bee-masters summon their bees by blowing
a small whistle, formed of bone or shell. They sometimes
collect the humming population of a village, who follow
them as orderly as sheep obey the voice of their shepherd,
and lead them from one meadow to another, till an impend-
ing shower, or the approach of evening, cautions them to
return. This singular custom is noticed by St. Cyril, who
flourished in the fourth and fifth centuries, as a thing which
he had frequently seen. He also mentions that Isaiah
refers to it, in the following memorable passage, in which
the future conquests of the Assyrian monarch are foretold.*

« And it shall come to pass in that day, the Lord shall
hiss (or whistle) for the bee that is m the land of Assyria.

«* And they shall come, and shall rest all of them in the
desolate valleys, and in the holes of the rock, and upon all
thorns, and upon all bushes.”—vu. 18, 19.

* Spectacle de la Nature.

TRUMPET-SHELLS. 99

A sort of speaking-trumpet, made either of the Buceinun
or the bark of cherry-tree, is also in much request among
the inhabitants of alpine districts. When the last rays of
the setting sun appear on the horizon, the shepherd who
dwells highest on the mountain blows his horn, and calls
aloud, “ Praised be the Lord.” The neighbouring shep-
herds then leave their huts, and repeat the words. The
sound lasts for several minutes, while every cave and
mountain echo repeats the name of God. How solemn is
the scene! Imagination can scarcely picture anything
more sublime. The profound silence that succeeds, the
grandeur of the mountains, the brilliant rays of the set-
ting sun, which illumines their highest peaks, the deep
gloom of the valleys below—all conspire to awaken the
most solemn reflections. Meanwhile the shepherds bend
their knees, and pray in the open air, soon after which
they retire to their huts.

** When varying hues of parting day
O’er evening’s portals faintly play,
The alpine horn calls, far away,

Praised be the Lord!

* And every hill and rock around,
As though they loved the grateftd sound,

H 2

100 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

Send back, mid solitude profound,
Praised be the Lord!

* Just heaven! has man so thankless grown,
He brings no anthems to Thy throne,
When voiceless things have found a tone

To praise the Lord.

*‘ Ah, no! for see the shepherds come,
Though hardly heard the welcome home
From toil of day—they quickly come,

To worship God.

“<The cares that made their hearts to bow,
And childhood’s laugh, and sunny brow,
All, all by them forgotten now,

Tn praise to God.

“* How lovely such a scene must be,
When prayer and praise ascend to Thee,
In one glad voice of melody,

Eternal Lord!

* All space Thy temple, and the air
A viewless messenger to bear
Creation’s universal prayer,
On wings to heaven !

“Oh! that for me some Alpine horn,
Both closing eve and wakening morn;

CASSIDES. 101

Would sound, and bid my bosom scorn
The world’s vain joys.

‘< Tts treasured idols all resign,
That when life’s cheating hues decline,
The one undying thought be mine,
To praise the Lord !”

Cassides, or Helmets, are a strong, muscular, but mactive
group of mollusks, of which the shells are chiefly distin-
guished by a solid or inflated growth and short spire, and
by the abrupt ascending recurvature of the canal, through
which the siphon for conveying water to the breathing-
organ passes, and which is of more than ordimary dimensions.
The faculties for building in this genus are somewhat
vigorously exercised: the mantle which lines the interior
of the shell extends in ample folds about the aperture,
and secretes that rich display of enamel, which affords so
beautiful a material for the engraving of cameos. The
C. tuberosa, from the West Indies, is chiefly selected for
this purpose, on account of its delicate purity of colour.
The well-known Bull’s-mouth, C. rufa, offers a familiar
example of the great power exhibited by the genus in the
formation of shell, but, on account of its blood-red colour,
the enamel is not so well adapted for gem engraving.

102 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

The Cassides are not very numerous. They chiefly in-
habit the Mauritius, Ceylon, the Philppmes, and West
Indies; two species are found in the Mediterranean, but
none on our own coast.

Greek words signifying Murex and Purpura were used
indiscriminately by ancient Greek writers, in reference to all
mollusks yielding a purple dye; these became, in conse-
quence, objects of especial interest, on account of the
limited sources for obtaining colour.

The purple juice of the mollusk affords, however, no
assistance to the lover of systems: it abounds alike in
animals of very dissimilar character,—in the Scalaria and
Tanthina, equally with the Murex and Purpura ;—hence the
latter term was adopted by Lamarck, to distinguish the
genus under consideration, regardless of any property of
secreting a purple juice.

Purpure differ exceedingly in their details of sculpture,
but are somewhat constant in colour. The well-known
P. dapilius, of Europe, varies in both respects to such an
almost inconceivable degree, that no one, who has not
thoroughly examined numerous specimens, can correctly
estimate its protean character.

Variety is an attribute of creation, and nowhere is it

HARPA. 103

more fully developed than in the world of shells. The
mollusk of the Dolium perdix, for instance, is bright blue,
contrasted with a dull brown shell; those of the D. olearium
and gomum, of which the one is of a cerulean colour, the
other of a rich coppery green, inhabit pale yellowish shells.

The colours of such mollusks as pertain to the genus
Harpa are, on the contrary, scarcely less vivid than those
of the shells which they inhabit. They are often of
yellowish-green and rose tint, and curiously ocellated,
whilst the breathing-organ is transversely striped.

The shells of this beautiful and very limited genus are
too well known to render any description necessary ; but
among them the Many-ridged Harp, the Rose Harp, and
David’s Harp are, perhaps, the most distinguished. In
each, the prominent longitudinal ribs, which impart the
harp-like symmetry of structure to the shell, are regarded
as varices, analogous in structure to those of the Murer:
they form the margin of the aperture, and the intervals
between them are probably of rapid growth.

Harpe mostly inhabit the shores of Ceylon, the Mauritius,
and the Philippine Islands; one species, the H. crenata,
is from Mexico.

The genus Doliwm constitutes a limited, but very charac-

104 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

teristic group, distinguished for their size and muscular
strength, and the voracity and comparative activity of their
habits. The head is furnished with a long retractile trunk,
capable of being rapidly protruded or withdrawn, as also
with an ample porous disc, which imbibes water lke
sponge. When, therefore, the mollusk desires to swim, his
will acts upon the disc, which becomes inflated with an
enormous quantity of water, and the little mariner is thus
enabled to pass over the surface of the deep, wherever his
inclinations lead him. M. Deshayes frequently observed
this curious process on the shores of the Mediterranean,
during his expedition to Algeria.

The shell is, also, admirably adapted for aquatic excur-
sions, being the lightest of spiral univalves; it approaches
somewhat in form to that of Cassis, but is distinguished
by its thinness and want of varices, as also by the absence
of any recurvature at the base. A much greater variety
and brightness of colour is exhibited in the inhabitant, than
in the shell.

The genus Magilus presents a remarkable instance of
intelligent economy; it affords, also, an example of the
fallacy of arranging shells according to their external form
and aspect, without reference to the animal inhabitant.

MAGILUS. 105

We owe to the researches of Dr. Russell, in Abyssinia, some
extremely interesting particulars relative to the habits of
this curious mollusk. He ascertained that the creature
inhabits masses of Madrepore, and that the worm-lke
structure of his shell is occasioned by such a confined
habitat ; that, further, the formation of the shell originates
in the same spiral plan as that of similar mollusks, but
that, finding it needful to be n immediate communication
with the water, the Magilus is constrained to alter his spiral
mode of growth, in order to keep pace with the enlarging
surface of the coral. He pursues, therefore, a straight or
flexuous course, and renders the outer portion of his shell
extremely solid, in order to resist any pressure from without,
and that he may dwell safely within reach of the aperture,
by which he maintains a communication with the outer
world. ‘The animal himself rarely exceeds two inches in
length, although the shell is occasionally prolonged to at
least twelve or fifteen inches, by a gradual shpping of the
muscle of attachment along the columella, accompanied by
a copious secretion of calcareous fluid from the mantle.

This species, like all coral-inhabiting mollusks, is nearly
devoid of colouring matter: the shell is of a transparent
alabaster white, and the edges of the mantle are tinged

106 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

with violet. Peculiar in his habitat and location, this kind
of mollusk is apparently restricted to the Weandrina phrygia
and the shores of the Red Sea.

The growth of the A/agi/us presents a kind of negative
analogy with that of the Nauti~us. The inhabitant of each
advances to the outer porch of his cell by the aid of a
relaxing muscle, and the mode of their operation is curiously
adapted to existing circumstances. The former, in order
to sustain the increasing pressure of his coral home, fills
up the empty portions of his shell with a solid substance ;
the latter, having a watery element to contend with, increases
the buoyancy of his habitation by several light partitions.
If this plan was adopted by the Magi/us, his outer walls
would probably be crushed by the increasing growth of
coral; if the Naw#idus filled up his vacant shell after the
manner of the Magilus, he would be unable to move from
place to place, or to ascend from his haunts in the fathom-
less abyss.

In both, the instinct of the animal is rendered subser-
vient to the purpose for which it is designed ;—the one to
glide in its mimic boat, unharmed amid the terrors of the
deep; the other to lead a hermit life, imbedded within
blocks of coral, for the perfecting of which innumerable
workmen are continually employed.

107

Family IV. Atata.

A list of names; nought else! What use the noting
Of creatures that dwell deep neath raging waves ?
Speak rather of such curious shells as grace

Our banks, or stream-sides, or beside the main.
Not yet. This wondrous brotherhood of forms
May well detain us, to describe how one,

Like Polypheme, with his lone searching eye,
Progresses on; and how, with two-lobed foot,
Another leaps from tangled weed to stone ;

And, strange to say, one lobe supports an eye,
Held up to scan the way, as men at night

Their lanterns hold; whilst others keep at home
And ply their labours with artistic skill.

Wing-like expansions of the outer lip distinguish this
interesting family ; and first among its six genera stands
Priamus, with his light, horny, semi-porcellaneous shell.
This peculiarity, taken in connection with the absence of
epidermis, and a wide-spread stain in contact with the
animal inhabitant, leads to the supposition that the creature
is of large size, and able to envelope his shell to some con-
siderable extent ; that, further, he is probably an inhabitant
of deep water, and that if his shell was subjected to micro-

108 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

scopic examination, a larger proportion of membranaceous
tissue, and less of calcareous matter, than is usually secreted
by his brethren, would be discovered.

The second genus, Struthiolaria, which inhabits the
shores of New Holland, exhibits a strange mollusk, of
which the disc is supported on a stout pedicle, with a
truncated proboscis-like prolongation of the head, and the
absence of a breathing siphon. It seems scarcely possible
that such an ungainly and half-formed creature should con-
struct for himself a dwelling, however humble, and dwell
therein with facilities for enjoyment. Yet such is doubtless
the case, for the power of erecting that same dwelling is
productive of happiness to-its artificer.

In the animal of the Aporrhais a different structure
becomes obvious: the disc is truncated in front, carrying
at the extremity a small horny operculum; the head is
large, the mouth longitudinal, occupying the length of the
truncated portion of the head, and the tentacles long and
pointed, pedunculated at the base, at the summit of which
singular portion is the eye.

Such is the formation of this peculiar mollusk, which
yet constructs a dwelling somewhat more elaborate than
that of his uncouth brother, having simple or expanded

PTEROCERA. 109

claws, which are conjectured to serve as anchors in time
of need.

The Rostellaria, limited in species, and principally affect-
ing China and the Molucca Islands, forms an elegant
fusiform shell. The disc is divided into two separate por-
tions, and the animal is thus enabled to change his place
of abode by a succession of leaps, instead of the usual
method of contraction and dilation.

In like manner, also, the occupant of the Pterocera
progresses by means of a very restricted kind of leap. For
this purpose the disc is curiously two-forked, and in the
stouter branch, which is commonly pedunculated, appears
an eye of unusually large proportions. This eye is ap-
parently more fully developed than in any others of the
Gastropods; it covers the summit of the stout, truncated,
and tentacular branch already mentioned, and is composed
of a transparent horny material containing an iris, which
differs i colour according to the species, and is wonderfully
constructed for the transmission of lght into an inner
chamber.

Kqually curious is the faculty possessed by the mantle
of expanding into several finger-like divisions when about
to suspend its masonic labours, each secreting a massive

110 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

claw, which becomes filled with calcareous matter, the
hinder one being thrown over the siphon so as nearly to
conceal the primitive growth of the shell from the ob-
server; the mantle then withdraws, and, subsiding in
wrinkles, deposits that richly-coloured layer of corresponding
enamel, with which the columella and the aperture are uni-
formly adorned at maturity.

The distinguishing peculiarity of the Péerocera, or Spider-
shell, as regards his testaceous covering, consists in a wing-
like expansion of the mature lip. This genus inhabits the
seas of the tropics.

Strombi are generally distributed throughout the globe.
The largest species, 8. gigas, is from the West Indies, and
several others abound in the same locality; they are also
discovered in the seas of China, Ceylon, and the Moluccas,
with those of Australia, New Zealand, Peru, California, the
Sandwich Islands, and the Red Sea.

Ail

Family V. CanaLirera.

From morn till dewy eve sat the pale scribe
Within some cloister grey ; his ready hand
Tracing on vellum symbols, saintly forms,

Or picturing deeds by honoured ones of old ;
And deep within the waters dwelt his co-mate,
Purpurea, such her name, whose woudrous art
Produced that deep cerulean perfect blue,
Which men call Tyrian.

Shell canalicnlated, canal sometimes very long, sometimes
very short; lip not changing with age.

The family Canalifera comprises an extensive range of
mollusks, whose shells exhibit great diversity of structure,
but are all more or less channelled at the base. This channel
is, however, extremely variable: in some of the Murices it is
of considerable length and tenuity, whilst in most of the
ftanelle and Cancellari@ it is comparatively obsolete.

“Other characters of equal importance are distinctive
of groups. The genera Masciolaria, Cancellaria, and Tur-
binella are characterized by a row of oblique plaits on the
columella, somewhat after the manner of the Volutes and
Mitres; and the Tritons, Murices, and Ranel/@ are distin-

fig Be INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

guished by a system of varicose growth, developed with
a regularity unknown in any other genus.

«Animals of the different genera belonging to this
family, so far as they are at present known, are, with
certain modifications, the same throughout. They are
distinguished by a short stout disc, truncated head, and
fine pointed tentacles, such as are represented in the Zrzton
tuberosus. The chief variation consists in the development
of the mantle, which in some genera, and even species, is
simple, whilst in others it is furnished with that variety of
filamentary processes which secrete the fronds, the spires,
and tubercles.”

The similarity of structure which exists in the mollusks
of this family will render any further reference to them
unnecessary.

Sixteen genera pertain to the Canalifera, among which
the following are most conspicuous.

“The genus Zritonw includes a considerable portion of
that extensive and admired series of Canalifera, whose
shells exhibit a peculiarity in their mode of formation,
which is conjectured to indicate periods of rest in the cal-
cifying functions of their animal inhabitants.” This pecu-
liarity consists in the deposition at intervals of a marginal

TRITON. LIS

ridge, with all its varieties of embellishment, as highly
finished and harmonious in its hues, as might be antici-
pated from a mature artist. Spines and lamine, or tubercles,
are secreted by certain thread-hke processes along the edge
of the mantle, previous, it is assumed, to a season of rest ;
or in other words, the animal is able to suspend at will the
function of his calcifymg organ, thus forming different
intervals, in a manner analogous to that which induces the
formation of claws in the mature Pferocera.

Triton shells are more solid, and yet simple in their
structure, than such as pertain to the Murex or Ranella.
They have neither fronds nor spines, nor yet ramified
branches lke the Murer: the rude manner in which their
whorls are convoluted seems to indicate that the molluscous
occupant, though possessing abundant masonic powers, is
of somewhat sluggish disposition. The epidermis is often
remarkably thick and hairy, occasionally even varied with
bristles in small tufts; and the apex, in numerous in-
stances, is formed apparently of a horny substance, thinly
plated with shelly matter. Hence it happens not unfre-
quently, that the calcareous plating, being broken off,
exposes the horny cast beneath. Another peculiarity is
obvious in the columella being adorned with a bright coat

I

114 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

of wrinkled enamel, and the outer lip becoming thickened
in a manner somewhat curious. ‘This process occurs when
the shell is perfected ; the lip then curls under, so as to form
a deep broad channel, or gutter, which, on being filled up,
constitutes a thickened lip. The varices are similarly con-
structed, each forming for a time the margin of the aper-
ture, and are apparently designed to protect the lip, when
the industrious architect ceases awhile from his labours.

The elegant margin of the 7’ /emora/e is celebrated for
having furnished the original model of the gadroon border,
used by silversmiths in the decoration of plate.

Shells of the Zritow were anciently appropriated as trum-
pets. ‘Their loud and sonorous sounds gave notice, in the
early days of Greece, that the common crier was about to
perform his office. Both history and tradition teach that the
Triton variegatus was commonly selected for the purpose.
Poets also sang concerning those sea-trumpets, with which
the Tritons and attendant nereids announced the settmg
forth of Neptune, when

“He mounts the car, the golden scourge applies,
He sits superior, and the chariot flies :
His whirling wheels the glassy surface sweep ;
The enormous monsters rolling o’er the deep

qo

MUREX. 1]

Gambol around him on the watery way,

And heavy whales in awkward measures play,
Till parting waves before his coursers fly,
And wondering waters leave his axle dry;
Where in the bay his shining palace stands,
Kternal frame, not raised by mortal hands.”

Tritons are widely distributed. Of a hundred species,
illustrated in the ‘Conchologia Iconica,’ the greater number
are from the Molucca and Philippine Islands, some few
from the western coast of America, some from China, several
from New Holland, Ceylon, and Mozambique; one or two
are from the Mediterranean, the Cape of Good Hope, the
West Indies, and the United States.

Murices include all shells of this family which have
more than two varices on a whorl. Of these the numbers
displayed by what may be termed the typical species of the
genus, is three, imparting a triangular structure to the shell,
which has been likened to the calthorp of the ancients, a
three-sided instrument of war, that was scattered on the
field of battle, in order to impede the progress of horsemen.

Beyond the number of three, the varices are irregular,
following one the other in such rapid succession as almost
to lose their distinctive character.

Beautiful as regards their architectural embellishments

12

116 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

and the variety of their decorations, none are more worthy
of admiration than the shells of this interesting genus. In
some, the varices are moulded into elaborate leaf-like fronds ;
in others are seen a succession of fimbriated lamine; in
others, a row of long tubular spines; in all, variations of
ornamental growth, which serve as characters for the sub-
divisions of the genus. The profuse enamelling of the
aperture is also very striking: the colours possess a purity
and brightness which no effort of the pencil can imitate.
Observe, for instance, the magnificent J. erythrostoma from
California and the 1. regius of Panama; the first glowing
with the colours of the rainbow, the second uniting the
most brilliant colouring and elaborate structure.

History relates that the Romans obtained their celebrated
dye from the expressed juice of the Murex trunculus,
inhabiting the Mediterranean and the shores of Tyre. The
M. brandaris seems also to have been used for the same
purpose ; and M. Deshayes attempts to show that remains of
this species are still found in consolidated heaps upon the
coast, way-marks by which to distinguish ancient stations
for the extraction of purple.

This curious fact was ascertamed during a scientific ex-
pedition to the Morea, when, observing considerable heaps

TYRIAN PURPLE. ELT

containing solely the remains of the Murex brandaris, Des-
hayes at first regarded them as evidences of some geological
phenomenon. Further consideration, however, led io a
different conclusion, and after carefully examining the heaps
of shells, in connection with several concurring testimonies,
he discovered that these vestiges of old times were uni-
formly in the vicinity of some ancient ruin, among which
were clear indications of their having been used for the
manufacture of purple.

Old legends tell that the ancients were indebted for this
discovery to the accidental circumstance of a shepherd’s dog
having stained his mouth when breaking a shell on the
sea-shore, and that the colour, having excited the admiration
of all who saw it, was applied to the dyeing of silk.

Some historians assign this event to the reign of Phcenix,
king of Tyre, who flourished rather more than three
hundred years before the Christian era; others, to the time
when Minos reigned in Crete, about fourteen centuries pre-
vious to the advent of our Lord. But the greater number
ascribe the honour of this discovery to the Tyrian Hercules.
This renowned hero is said to have presented the first efforts
of his ingenuity to the King of Pheenicia, who was so mucli

118 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

delighted with the splendid effect produced by this new
colour, that he forbade the use of it to any of his subjects.

Such are the different traditions respecting the origin of
the purple dye, which is involved in the same obscurity as
pervades the discovery of every art connected with the ordi-
nary wants and necessities of man;—they have generally
originated in times beyond the reach of authentic history or
tradition, and have been the offspring of his natural faculties,
directed by the great primitive wants of food, shelter, and
raiment.

But though neither history nor tradition have preserved
any authentic information with regard to the origin of this
interesting art, yet, from analogy, as well as observation of
the practice of barbarous nations at the present day, we can
readily credit the fables of the latter with regard to the rude
beginnings from which the art has sprung. ‘The rich and
gaudy plumage of birds, the finely-spotted skins of animals,
coloured shells, stones, and such other substances as nature
herself supplies, afford the first materials for savage finery,
and indeed suggest the idea of imitating them.

Such was the case in Otaheite, before the light of
Christianity arose on that benighted country; and Pomare,
in abjuring her idols, renounced also the savage customs of

TYRIAN PURPLE. 119

her ancestors. ‘The caps and mantles of the chiefs were
almost wholly composed of feathers, richly coloured, and de-
corated with the most beautiful shells. Of these a conside-
rable number were the native productions of the country ;
others derived their lustre from the juices of herbs and flowers.

The high antiquity of the Tyrian purple is confirmed by
Homer, who ascribes the wearing of purple ornaments and
robes to the heroes of Greece and Rome, and assigns the
preparing of them to, queens and princesses: in reference
to which custom, this great poet and accurate observer
thus describes the occupation of treacherous Helen, at
the court of Polypus :—

“* (Whose sovereign sway
The wealthy tribes of Pharian Thebes obey.)
Alcandra, consort of his high command,
A golden distaff gave to Helen’s hand,
And that rich vase, with living sculpture wrought,
Which, heap’d with wool, the beauteous Philo brought ;
The silken fleece impurpled for the loom,
Rivall’d the hyacinth in vernal bloom.”

OpyssrEY, Book iv. 175.

_ This beautiful colour was held im such esteem by the
ancients, that it was, at one period, especially consecrated to
the service of the Deity. Moses used purple stuffs for the

120 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

works of the tabernacle, as well as for the habits of the high
priest ; and among the presents which the Israelites made
to Gideon, the Scriptures notice purple habits as some
of the spoils of the Kings of Midian.

The Tyrians, by the confession of all antiquity, succeeded
best in their purple dye. Their method slightly differed
from the one narrated by Pliny, for they merely used such
purple shells as abounded on the shores of the Mediter-
ranean, and made a bath of the liquor extracted from the
fish. In this they steeped the wool for a certain time, then
took it out, and threw it into another boiler, which contained
an extract from the Buecimum, or 'Trumpet-fish, only. And
hence the wool, which had been submitted to this double
process, was so highly estimated, that in the reign of
Augustus each pound sold for one thousand Roman denarii,
about thirty-six pounds sterling. We need not, indeed,
wonder at this enormous price, when the tedious nature of
the process is considered, and the small quantity of dye
produced by each shell-fish. For fifty pounds of wool, the
ancients used no less than two hundred pounds of the
liquor of the Buccinum, and one hundred pounds of that of
the Purpura, being six pounds of liquor to one pound of
wool: consequently, the real Tyrian purple vied in value

Plate Vil.

W.Wing , lit. . Reeve & Nichols, imp.

TYRIAN PURPLE. [eA

even with gold itself. Ancient writers mention several dif-
ferent shades of purple; one of which appears to have
been a kind of dark violet, inclining towards a reddish hue ;
another, less esteemed, resembled crimson; but the most
valued of all was a deep red purple, similar in colour to
coagulated blood. A fourth kind, of a whitish cast, has
been discovered in modern times.

The wearing of purple robes was, in Italy, originally con-
fined to the first officers of Rome; but, as luxury increased
in the capital of the world, they were gradually adopted by
the lower ranks of patrician society, till every one who had
wealth sufficient to purchase them appeared in the Circus
and at the theatre arrayed in these costly habiliments.
But the Emperors could not endure that plebelans should
thus appropriate a style of dress which had hitherto de-
signated the highest officers of the state. A law was
therefore passed, to render it a distinguishing mark of im-
perial dignity, as well asa symbol of inauguration; and
hence, to assume the purple, was a phrase synonymous with
that of ascending the throne. At length came one of
prouder character than any that had preceded him, and he
not only appointed officers to superintend the manufacturing
of this imperial dye, but even denounced the punishment of

122 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

death against any of his ambitious subjects who dared to
usurp the prerogative of the throne. The penalty, so tyran-
nically inflicted, doubtless occasioned the loss of the art
of dyeing purple; first in the west, afterwards in the east,
where it flourished till the eleventh century.

The finest kind of purple preserved its bnilliancy for a
considerable time, and long survived those for whom it
was designed. Plutarch relates, in his life of Alexander,
that the Greeks found im the treasury of the King of Persia
a quantity of purple, which had not lost its beauty, though
nearly one hundred and ninety years old.

The ancients also obtained from the coccus, now known
by the name of kermes, a colour nearly equal to the Tyrian
dye, with which, according to Pliny, it was indeed occasio-
nally blended, under the name of scarlet. The use of the
coccus in dyeing is very ancient, since it appears, from com-
mentators, to be alluded to in Exodus :—

“And of the blue, and purple, and scarlet, they made
eloths of service, to do service in the holy place, and made
the holy garments for Aaron.

«And a girdle of fine twined linen, and blue, and pur-
ple, and scarlet, of needle work: as the Lord commanded
Moses.” —xxxix. ] and 29.

TYRIAN PURPLE. 1933

In after times, the lighter kinds of Tyrian purple were
used in dying parchments, or vellum, with the design of
rendering still more splendid the gold and silver letters
with which they were adorned; and these, Casiri tells us,
reflected objects like a mirror. But as Tyrian robes were
confined to the palace and person of the Emperor, so this
magnificent and expensive style of writing was appropriated
to Biblical manuscripts, and the libraries of princes.
Theonas admonishes Lucian, the grand chamberlain, not to
permit any transcription upon purple vellum, in gold and
silver letters, unless especially required by the prince. “I
entreat you,” says Boniface, Bishop of Mentz, the apostle of
Germany, in a letter to the Abbess Cadburga—“ TI entreat
you, send me the epistle of the apostle Saint Peter,
written in letters of gold, that by exhibiting them, in
preaching, to the eyes of the irreligious, I may procure the
greater honour and veneration for the Holy Scriptures.”
Such was the book of the Gospels, which Louis the Pious
gave to the monastery of St. Medard, at Soissons, now in
the royal library of France. Such, too, was the Book of
Prayers, written in letters of gold upon purple vellum,
bound in ivory, and studded with gems, formerly belonging
to Charles the Bald, but now in the celebrated Colbertine
Library.

124 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

The fourth and fifth centuries were equally remarkable
for magnificent specimens of chrysography, and of illu-
mination, or ornamental decorations of Biblical manuscripts.

Among the books at the sale of Sir William Burrell’s
library, in 1798, was a manuscript Bible, beautifully writ-
ten on vellum, and highly illuminated; it contaimed the
autograph of the writer, Guido de Sars,-in which he stated
that the work had taken him half a century to execute,—that
he had begun it in his fortieth, and finished it in his
ninetieth year, during the reign of Philip the Fair, in 1294.

Similar manuscripts were also occasionally made in
England. The famous Wilfred ordered a copy of the four
Gospels to be written for the church of Ripon, in letters
of the purest gold, upon leaves of parchment, purpled in
the ground, and variously coloured on the surface. But
such were extremely rare, as we learn from the observations
of the venerable Bede, who notices the one at Ripon as a
kind of prodigy, before unheard of. The Gregorian Bible,
presented by a monkish missionary and his companions to
the first Christian church erected at Canterbury, was also of
a similar description. It was written in red letters, with
several splendid purple and rose-coloured leaves inserted in
the beginning of each book.

TYPHIS. 125

Thus are we indebted to the molluscous inhabitants of the
Murex and Buccinum, for the imperishable dye which dis-
tinguished the vestments of the Roman emperors, and for
the brilliant decorations of our earliest manuscripts.

The AZurices which gave rise to this digression are gene-
rally distributed throughout the globe. ‘They are repre-
sented on the coasts of Britain by the JZ. erinaceus; in the
Mediterranean by one or two small species, in addition to
several that are figured in the ‘Conchologia Iconica’; in
California by the magnificent JV. erythrostoma, and in Pa-
nama by the JZ. regzus, equally distinguished by its exquisite
structure and brilliant colour. The noble JZ. ramosus and
saxvatilis abound in the Eastern Seas, with numerous other
species, among which is the well-known Venus’s Comb, JZ. ¢e-
nuispina: species possessing an extraordinary character
and delicacy of structure, that fully compensates for all
deficiency of colour.

The genus Zyphis presents a peculiar characteristic in
the development of certain tubes, which are not produced
in any other genus.

Shells of this singular group are similar in form and
general aspect to those of the Jwrex genus, but invariably
small, and distinguished by the peculiarity of a more or less

126 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

elongated spouted tube, situated in the middle of the area,
between the varices, in place of the usual nodule or tubercle.
These tubes bear no resemblance to the spines which
are so conspicuously developed in the Jurex tenuissima,
and which, being uniformly open, are modifications of
scales or fronds; the tube of the Zyphis is closed, and is
apparently destined for some purpose important to the weil-
being of the animal. Unique in its construction, no other
turbinated genus presents the least analogy.

This genus was founded on a fossil species, the Murer
tetrapterus, but subsequently found living in the Mediter-
ranean. Since then, four other recent species have been
described by Mr. Broderip, of which two were collected by
Mr. Cuming at Salango, West Columbia, and the Bay
of Caraccas, and one by Captain Sir Edward Belcher,
at Cape Blanco, West Africa. Three species were subse-
quently added by the same enterprising traveller during
the voyage of H.M.S. Sulphur, in localities very remote
from each other. The first was discovered in from seven to
eighteen fathoms water in the Gulf of Nicoya and Bay of
Guayaquil; the second was dredged on the L’Agulhas
Bank, Cape of Good Hope, at a depth of upwards of fifty

fathoms; and the third, the smallest of the series, was found

FICULA. 124

among gravel and coral, in eighteen fathoms water, at the
Straits of Macassar, in the Indian Archipelago.

The /’cula is seen progressing in his native element with
comparative velocity, owing, most probably, to the lightness
of his shell, and his facilities for locomotion. Hence, when
captured he is able readily to ascend the sides of a
vessel, and the looker-on is not a little amused with his
attempts to escape, and the ingenuity with which he puts
in requisition all his various resources. Those resources
consist of an extensive disc, although unprovided with an
operculum, broad and rounded in front and acuminated
behind, of a thin mantle expanded into two side-lobes,
which cover a considerable portion of the shell, and lastly of
a proboscis, which is, however, rarely projected when the
creature inclines to move, but, instead of this, long tapering
tentacles are stretched out to their full length, and these
carry at the base a large black eye.

Thus wondrously constructed, the brotherhood of Ficule
move blithely wherever their inclinations lead them. Some
are gorgeously attired, objects, it may be, of no small admi-
ration among such as are less distinguished. The Meula levi-
gata, a native of the Sooloo Sea, is most gaily decorated :
his mantle is bright pink, mottled with white, and lighter

128 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

pink; the under surface of his disc is dark chocolate, with
yellow scattered spots; his head and neck are also pink,
elegantly dotted with yellow spots.

“Rarely has an author the privilege of introducing a
genus of seventy-two new species. But such an opportu-
nity have the indefatigable exertions of Mr. Cuming affor-
ded me,” as wrote the author of ‘ Elements of Conchology,’
with reference to the genus Mangelia. A few only had
been previously discovered; one included by Lamaitk with
the Cancellaria, and five mentioned by Mr. Hind in the
‘Zoology of the Sulphur. The latter were discovered by
that eminent traveller under various circumstances—some
on reefs, others concealed in places under stones, and a
few at depths varying from three to twenty-five fathoms.
Australia, Sicily, the West Indies, and the Philippine
Islands have furnished specimens of the Mangelia. The
long spindle-shaped /usi are equally delicate and graceful ;
and this seems to compensate for the absence of bright
colours and variety of structure, all beng merely more or
less tinged with rust-brown, and strongly or faintly keeled
and nodulous. One spindle-shaped species, brought from
the Straits of Korea, is especially distinguished by the pre-
eminent beauty of its structure; each whorl being sur-

FASCIOLARIA. 129

mounted by a diadem of erect compressed scales, whence
the name of Fusus pagodus.

Elongated /usi are principally from the Hastern Seas,
China, and New Holland; the ovate species are from a
colder climate, and are mostly European.

Fasciolarié constitute a very natural genus, though limited
in species, and are distinguished by their large tubercular
growth and brilliant display of colours; there is, also, a
character in the style of marking, which obtains some
importance from being generally accompanied by numerous
transverse lines, in a manner peculiar to the genus, whilst
the aperture is in general closely radiated with elevated
lines. ‘The columella is further distinguished by one or
two plaits, ranging obliquely at the base.

Fasciolari@ are pretty generally distributed, being found
in Ceylon and the Philippine Islands, Australia, Western
Africa, Panama, Mexico, and West Columbia, Honduras
and the West Indies, the Mediterranean, and Cape de Verd
Islands. They present, in common with many of their
brethren, examples of that assignment of organized beings
to different portions of the globe, which is wholly inexpli-
cable, and which is yet subservient to the perfect harmony
and order that pervades creation.

K

130 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

Turbinelle may also be adduced as serving to illustrate
the locality of shells. Though affecting warm climates,
they are restricted from the Mediterranean, with its olive-
shaded shores and sun-lit coves: their principal localities
are the Philippine Islands, the Gallapagos, and many a
sea-girt isle of the Pacific; they are found, also, in the
Mauritius, Zanzibar, Panama, Ceylon, Acapulco, Rio Janeizo,
and the West Indies.

The beautiful 7. prismatica throws out a delicate ir-
descent lustre on being immersed in water, and many of
the genus are exquisitely painted. Among such, and espe-
cially conspicuous for his gorgeous apparelling, is the mol-
lusk of Zurbinella cornigera, a creature clad in deep purple
finely marbled with white, the colours being fainter towards
the margin of the foot. The eye is said to be distinct and
well-formed, having a black pupil, and iris of light yellow.
Thus gorgeously bedecked, the creature may be seen pro-
eressing with some degree of apparent difficulty, as if op-
pressed with the weight of his shell. He is, moreover, of a
very timid disposition, and shrinks into his dwelling on the
slightest alarm. His haunt, therefore, is chiefly among
sea-weeds, where he can readily find a cover; and from such
a domicile the specimen described by Mr. Reeve, in ‘Con-

TURBINELLA. IS

chologia Iconica,’ was procured on the shores of Billiton,
an island in the Java Sea, between Borneo and Sumatra.

The interesting brotherhood of TZwurbinelle present a
striking contrast to the rude misshapen object for which
the genus Cyrtulus was established, although partaking
somewhat of the character of /usus, with a certain degree
of resemblance to the Zurdinella pyrum and its congeners,
divested of their columellar plaits. This strange shell was
discovered by Captain Sir Edward Belcher, at Port Anna
Maria, Nukuhiva Marquesa, dredged from a depth of about
nine fathoms, and was at first conjectured to be some dis-
torted individual of an unknown species. Subsequent
examination, however, caused it be received as a new genus,
by Mr. Hinds, assistant-surgeon to the expedition, and as
such it is approved by Mr. Reeve. Since then, two or three
specimens have been found with the same peculiarity of
growth.

The spire of the Cyrtulus is characterized by a neat display
of sculpture, but suddenly becomes acuminated in the same
curiously erect manner as in the Strombus Thersites ; the last
whorl then assumes a rude swollen growth, smooth, though
very thick and ponderous, and rising in such a manner
around the base of the spire, as to give it a sunken half-

132 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

buried appearance, as if the calcifying organ of the animal
which had carried on its work with so much beauty and
symmetry to a certain point, had suddenly been charged
to overflowing, and its architectural design, so to speak,
had become nullified.

But though nothing has transpired with regard to the
animal inhabitant, the creature has doubtless his peculiar ~
characteristic and his haunt in the deep waters,—sources,
too, of enjoyment—nay more, his sphere of usefulness, and
forms a link in the great chain of nature.

Many interesting facts have, on the contrary, transpired
respecting the genus Cerithium, of which the species are very
numerous, and inhabit all climates wathin the mean tem-
perature of the Mediterranean ; in a fossil state, they are
still more abundant, and afford much research for the
geologist. .

The Cerithium nobile, a magnificent and rare specimen,
is selected by Mr. Reeve for illustration in his ‘ Elements
of Conchology.’

The genus is of a somewhat anomalous character, and
very dissimilar are the habits of its different members.
Some inhabit the sea, others are found in rivers; the former
constitute a numerous portion of heavy and solid growth,

CERITHIUM. iss

exhibiting a certain delicacy of colour and design, and are
probably carnivorous; the latter, which inhabit fresh or
brackish water at the mouths of estuaries, or live in swamps
among the roots of trees, are of a lighter description, and
mostly of a uniform dull colour, covered with a horny epi-
dermis. These are oviparous, and may be often found
suspended from the branches of trees by means of silken
threads, which the creature spins readily after the manner of
the silkworm. This peculiarity, first observed in the West
Indies by the Rev. Lansdowne Guilding, has also been
described by Dr. Trail, in a journal of natural history
recently published at Singapore, as also by Mr. Adams,
during his visit to Borneo.

Mangrove-swamps, and the mouths of rivers in Singapore
and Borneo, are favourite resorts of the Cerithia, where
they may be seen at one time crawling on the stones and
leaves, at another suspended by glutinous threads to the
boughs and roots of the mangroves. When about to close
his doors during the cold season, the mhabitant carefully
contracts himself into his shell, and brings his round horny
and semitransparent operculum, or door, to fit closely into
the aperture, having previously fixed sixty or seventy glassy,
transparent, and glutinous threads about the outer or right

134 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

lip, which extend half-way round the operculum, and serve
as an anchor, whereby to moor himself securely to his
resting-place.

A very handsome species, closely allied to the foregoing,
was found by Mr. Adams, crawling languidly on the
leaves of the Pontedera, as also on sedges in marshy places
along the banks of rivers in several parts of Borneo, and
many miles in the interior, where the water was perfectly
fresh. The eye of this mollusk is terminal, and the pro-
boscis marked with crimson and yellow. The foot is dark
brown, and a vivid scarlet line extends round the lower
margin.

Family VI. Parasitica.

Look on the Lesser Dodder, whose bright web

Ts flung at random, yet with peerless taste,

On shrub or rock, where low the bramble creeps ;
And such the mollusk which doth fix her home
Within the shelly rays of some meek star-fish,—
Strange dweller, yet with wondrous skill to frame
A small thin turbinated shell, from whence

She looketh forth, unvexed by winds or storms.

Animal marine, parasitic, living imbedded in the soft
parts of the star-fish, and forming a thin hyaline turbinated

STYLIFER. 135

shell: analogous to parasitic plants, which strike their roots
into the branches of trees or shrubs.

This elegant little parasite dwells within the fleshy sub-
stance of another animal. Mr. Cuming found him closely
burrowed in different parts of the rays pertaining to the
oral dise of Asterias solaris, or Star-fish; and with so much
adroitness had the creature made a comfortable dwelling
for himself, by the aid, most probably, of his rudimentary
foot, that he was almost hidden from sight. With that
instinct of self-preservation, imparted to all such parasites
which depend for existence upon their nidus, the Styler,
like the Jchneumon among insects, carefully avoids the
vital parts; hence Mr. Cuming never found his domicile
except in the rays, though occasionally penetrating at
their base.

The shell of this strange creature is delicate and trans-
parent. When extracted, the older shells present the
appearance of a milky clouded glass bubble, but the younger
shells are beautifully transparent. And yet even in these
a variety of form exists. The 8. astericola is round as a
pea; the 8. subulatus is long and tuberculated: both forms,
however, exhibit the peculiar elevation of the apex, after the
manner of a rude mammillary style or column.

136 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

Very curious is the structure of the animal inhabitant ;
somewhat pleasing also, for the mantle of the Stylifer
astericola is green, although in form thick, fleshy, and
cup-shaped, with a small aperture at the base, and a free
back margin enveloping the soft parts, and the last whorl
of the shell shghtly resembling a small acorn set in its cup.
On this mantle is the rudiment of a foot, and from the
small aperture is a proboscis, capable of being lengthened,
according to the necessities of the inhabitant; and having
at its commencement eyes, or rather ocular specks, without
pedicles. The branchiz, or gills, are placed on a single
stem, and at the base of the proboscis is a round muscular
stomach.

Family VIL. Torprnacna.

Wondrous creatures haunt
The world of waters. One doth fitly frame
A top-shaped shell, and then bedecks his home
With patterns such as looms of Indus never
Did body forth ; another trencheth round
His door with quaint devices. One doth seek
With vaulted spines to weave a diadem
Whereby to crown his cell, as if he sought
To reign as king; another, zigzag lines
And bands of ample space to deck his shell ;

PHASIANELLA. 13

Another, less ambitious, dwells at ease,

In some small cell of plain and simple hue.
But all and each preserve with jealous care
Such forms and emblems as denote their tribe.

Shell tuberculated, either conical or elongately turricu-
lated, sometimes closely, sometimes loosely convoluted ;
aperture entire at the base, with no indication of any
sluus.

Mollusks pertaining to this family are distinguished by
their less voracious habits, and the tubularly convoluted
structure of their shells. They have rarely any proboscis
hike their carnivorous brethren, most probably because they
chiefly feed on vegetable matter, and their shells are less
solid, though rarely fragile.

The genera of this family, amounting to at least twenty,
correspond, ina manner, to the Linnean Zrochus and Turbo,
and their shells are mostly lined with an iridescent, pearly
nacre. And yet, unlike the Zrochus, which exhibits the
most beautiful varieties of coloured beaded sculpture, the
Phasianella and Bankivia present only a bright array of
colour exhibited on a plane surface without the aid of
sculpture. The Delphinula adorns his shell with a profu-
sion of architectural ornaments; and, in one species, the

138 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

tubercles are prolonged into a lofty diadem of vaulted
spines. The Scalaria produces a unique effect, by a perio-
dical deposit of the reflected margin of the aperture, caus-
ing the whorl to become encircled with numerous rings.
Lastly, the Pdorus possesses the remarkable property of
attaching to his thin shell, by means of a glutinous exuda-
tion, the various pieces of corals, shells, or stones with
which he comes in contact. Hach species shows a different
modification of this peculiarity, which seems in accordance
with the fragile nature of the shell.

Turbinacea chiefly inhabit the Eastern world.

Such mollusks as pertain to the first genus, Zurritella,
are apparently a strong and muscular group, the disc being
surmounted by a stout pedicle, which upholds the shell and
prevents it from trailing upon the ground. A peculiarity
is also obvious in the mantle, which is prolonged into a
fringed ring, or collar, through which the head passes in
and out of the shell.

Although inhabiting alike the Hast and West Indies,
and occurring occasionally on the coast of Senegal and
New Holland, Zwrritel/@ present none of those brilliant tints
which attract the attention of naturalists, and are generally
indicative of sunny climes. The shells exhibit little variety

PHASIANELLA. 139

of hue; they are all more or less sombre ; but very beautiful
is the symmetry of their graduated screw-like proportions.

Shells of the second genus, Phasianelia, have long excited
the admiration of collectors, on account of thew highly
polished surface and beautifully variegated painting. The
fringed collar which embellishes the Zwrrited/a is also a con-
spicuous ornament in the occupant of this beautiful shell,
and its narrowed disc is distinguished by three pairs of
finger-like processes. Hven the ear-shaped and calcareous
operculum, or small door with which the inhabitant shuts
up his dwelling, has its own appropriate ornament.

Home-loving in their habits, the Phastanelle abound in
various localities. The larger species are from New Holland ;
but a small specimen, the P. pulla, is conjectured to be
found on our own coasts, as also two others in the West
Indies and Mediterranean.

Beautiful in his watery haunts, along the shores of New
Holland, and well deserving of generic honour, the Een-
chus has been separated from his brethren; and, though
uniform in shape and but little calcareous, the shell is
richly iridescent, and the typical character of the genus
may be recognized in the well known Zrochus iris, of which
the brilliant rainbow tints are nearly unrivalled.

14.0 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

One solitary species has alone been acknowledged as per-
taining to the genus Bankivia. The shell has few charac-
ters in common with Henchus, being apparently without an
epidermis ; but its porcellaneous structure resembles that
of the Phascanella, and it is sometimes banded with deep-
red and purple, sometimes tastefully adorned with fine
zigzag lines. ‘The columella presents the most important
generic feature, being thickly rolled and twisted, and trun-
cated at its junction with the lip, which is thin and not
reflected.

The common periwinkle, Littorina vulgaris, presents a
familiar type of the very natural group to which it per-
tains, including a multitude of species, of which many are
yet undescribed. They dwell on rocks that line the shores,
but generally above the water, although within reach of the
spray. ‘Their general aspect, and the composition of their
shell, indicate that they belong to an animal dissimilar in
his habits from Pasianella; and such is the fact, for the
molluscous inhabitant of the Li¢torina has a more probos-
cis-like head, but without a fringed collar or finger-like
processes.

The mention of the common periwinkle is associated with
the cliffs of Tenby, where the shell-collector first saw a

LITTORINA. 141

number of these mollusks adhering to the rocks, while the
dancing spray bounded towards them as if in sport, and
then streamed down the rocks lke molten silver.

The morning was one of the finest in July, when a fresh
cool breeze gently ripples the surface of the deep; and the
distant mountains, beautifully varied with light and shade,
are occasionally obscured with floating mists, which some-
times envelope their majestic heads, and again as rapidly
disclose them. ‘The scene was beautiful and animating.
Light skiffs glanced merrily over the transparent waters,
and sea-birds darted from their coverts in the rocks, now
rising in the air, now diving into the sea, and again appear-
ing like foam upon the billows. In the distance, stupen-
dous masses of black granite stood forth in all their native
majesty, and on the nearest cliffs the glittering windows of
a range of houses met the view. Suddenly the mellow
tones of the church clock, as if inspired by the spirit of
Memnon, began to strike the hour at the moment when the
beams of the now risen sun burst in full glory on the sur-
rounding scene, and a long line of radiance streamed upon
the face of the waters, occasionally lost or broken by the
huge shadows of distant rocks. Meantime the vessel ad-
vanced to the shore, and the voyager sprang on land—

142 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

“« Seeking whate’er of beautiful or new,
Sublime or dreadful, in earth, sea, or sky,
By chance or search was offered to his view,
To scan with curious or romantic eye.”

Few among oceanic artists produce a more delicate
and beautifully symmetrical shell, or one more highly
prized by amateurs, than the Wentle Trap, belonging to
the genus Sca/aria, and none in which the absence of
colour is so lavishly compensated by delicacy and variety
of structure.

Strange it seems, that im a genus including nearly a
hundred species, affecting, too, in considerable numbers, the
seas of equatorial regions, there is little indication of colour.
But when this is the case, the molluscous inhabitant seems
desirous to make amends for the deficiency of his tribe;
the ground-colouring of the whorl is uniformly of a rich
semitransparent brown, with rings of the purest white ; and
very curious is the fact, that the most highly coloured
species, the S. communis of our own shores, is that which
inhabits the coldest region.

The species is chiefly characterized by difference in the
number and development of its rings; and these are
formed at intervals by the reflected margin of the aperture,

SCALARIA. 143

with an especial reference to individuals. Beautiful is
the variety which they present,—~the more remarkable
because the mollusk does not wait till his faculties become
developed ; he commences the formation of his rings at a
very early period. It seems, also, as if each distinct species
had its own peculiar pattern, transmitted from one genera-
tion to another,—a kind of heraldic crest or emblem dis-
tinctive of the tnbe. In the well-known Scalaria pretiosa
of the Chinese Sea, the rings, or varices, are situated at
moderate intervals, increasing in area in exact geometrical
proportion with the size of the shell; in S. cmperialis they
are developed at more frequent intervals; in the S. /yra
they resemble silken threads; in 8. raricosta they are re-
motely and irregularly deposited ; and in S. a/ata they are
characterized at the upper part by the addition of a wing-
like process. But the most curious development is in
the &. magnifica, in which the whorls are contiguous, and
the typical peculiarities of the genus seem scarcely to
enter into its plan of ‘growth, a few slight rings being
alone discoverable, at irregular intervals, on the two last
whorls. | .

This genus principally affects the West Indies, Pacific
Islands, California, and New Holland.

144 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

Naturalists who visit the wild shores of Greenland and
Spitzbergen may find the Margarita, one of the most con-
spicuous among their molluscous fauna, in many a wild sea-
cove shaded with rocks, that yield the cochlearia and sorrel,
those invaluable plants, which uniformly grow together.
The species which thus braves the extremity of northern
winters, belongs to the first group imto which the various
species that pertain to the genus Margarita are divided, and
may readily be recognized by a rather light and spiral
structure, largely umbilicated, and resembling the form of
Cyclostoma.

The second group is distinguished by a more solid
growth, having a porcellaneous surface, with the umbilicus
filled up by a callous deposit. Unlike the first, which
affect a northern latitude, the species inhabits a warm region,
its colours are more vivid, and many of the individuals are
elegantly striped; the I/. teniata, for example, is encircled
by fillets of bright red, and the W. pulchella, by alternate
bands and lines of dark violet-blue.

The animal inhabitants of Turbo, Trochus, Delphinula
Margarita, and Monodowta, are so nearly similar, that
_ questions have arisen with regard to the propriety of sepa-
rating them. The head of each has a blunt proboscis-like

y;

Ww j !
OR t!
aa 4

sig 7, |

- ‘a Rh BS

(Oma)

SBM

ALT g

SEG
sme

TURBO. 145

form, with the tentacles a little behind, the eyes are upheld
on short pedicles at the outer base, and the disc is short
and thick, with mostly a calcareous, although occasionally
a horny, operculum.

The shells, however, of these genera afford distinctive
characters, sufficiently prominent to entitle them to be dis-
tinguished in the manner generally adopted ; and although
the opercula furnish no data for generic arrangement,
their varieties are extremely interesting. Those small doors,
on which much of the comfort and well-being of the
possessors depend, are mostly of a solid testaceous sub-
stance, but either smooth or granulous, deeply and cir-
cularly grooved with ridges, granulated or serrated, or else
composed of club-shaped particles, forming a kind of tuft.
An exception with regard to their solid testaceous substance
occurs in the 7. pica, and one or two other species : in these
the operculum consists merely of a horny lamina, without
any calcareous deposit.

Nor less curious and varied are the shells of the genus
Turbo ; occasionally smooth, and almost porcellaneous, but
mostly ribbed or grooved, and ornamented with scales or
lamine. The interior layer and chief substance of the shell
consists of mother-of-pearl, often iridescent, sometimes

L

146 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

even of a golden hue. They are, also, remarkable for their
symmetry of form and vivid blending of bright colours,
and are distinguished by their decided tubular growth, as
also by not standing pyramidically on their base, like the
Trochi.

A complete monograph of the species, by Mr. Reeve, in
his comprehensive work the ‘Conchologia Iconica,’ com-
prises sixty species, and shows that their range of habitation
is limited to warm climates, chiefly the islands of the
Eastern Archipelago, Australia, and New Zealand, with the
Mediterranean, West Indies, and California.

An exuberance of design in the pyramidical shells of the
genus Zrochus, presents a speciality of character, by which
to distinguish it from the Zwrbo. In every species pertain-
ing to that genus, when not absolutely smooth, the
sculpture, whether ribs, or scales, or tubercles, is arranged
transversely, but in the Zrochus it is mostly carved longitu-
dinally or obliquely, in patterns more varied and fanciful.
Trochi, numerous in species, and widely distributed in
almost every part of the world, occur on our own coasts, as
also in the Mediterranean, and all tropical latitudes.

The solitary Zrochiscus, a native of New Holland, may
be described as a compound of Turbo, Trochus, Solarium,

ROTELLA. 147

and fotella. ‘The shell partakes of the heavy substance
distinctive of the latter, though smooth on the outer surface,
and, as in Solarium, the umbilicus penetrates inwardly to
the apex ; on the other hand, the operculum resembles that
of Delphinula, with the addition of prominent circular
rows of curled flakes ;—a compound shell, which seems to
comprise the characteristic peculiarities of its brethren,
offermg another, amid innumerable instances of that inex-
plicable faculty which produces the most extraordinary
results by means apparently inadequate.

The Rotella forms another interesting section of the
Trochus tribe. Small in size, and readily distinguished by
its lenticular shape and polished surface, one only, and
that of extreme rarity, 1s otherwise than diminutive, as few
exceed half or three-quarters of an inch in diameter. And
very curious is the fact, that these polished shells are never
found with any extraneous substances attached to them ;
a singularity which M. Deshayes believes to indicate some
peculiar organization, whereby the mantle of the animal
is extended over the shell.

Who can look upon the Carnier Zrochus without admira-
tion? It seems as if the animal occupant was possessed of
a powerful cement, which he exudes during the formation

L 2

148 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

of his shell, and which, retamimg its gum-like quality,
causes a variety of floating particles to become firmly glued
on its surface; nay more, the shell is evidently moulded
with reference to this pecularity. Hence the Carrier
Trochus is seen loaded with fragments of stones and shells,
corals, or such floating substances as are borne at random
by the waves. De Montford, therefore, in order to dis-
tinguish the Zrochus agglutinans of Lamarck, a shell long
known to amateurs by the name of ‘ Mineralogist,’ and
‘Conchologist, according as its burden was composed
either of stones or shells, proposed the name of Phorus ;
and several species are now well known, in which the
elutinous property is differently exercised. The shell itself
varies materially from the TZvochus type, bemg nearly
colourless, not pearly, and of a more fragile texture ;
one or two species present a somewhat Calyptrea-like
aspect, but such evidently pertain to an animal of
locomotive habits, and the whorls are more completely
convoluted.

Names indicative of their peculiar burdens are, conse-
quently given to different shells. The P. onustus is covered
indiscriminately with stones, or shells, or corals; the
P. caleuliferus, of which the gum-like exudation is re-

SOLARIUM. 149

stricted to the outer edge of the whorls, only collects
very small stones, intermixed with valves of the Nucula
or Pectunculus. The P. corrugatus attaches flat fragments
of shell; the P. Zndicus and solaris, small pebbles on the
first or second whorl; and in the P. exutus rarely more
than traces of pebbles are discernible.

Among these, the P. oxustus is an inhabitant of the
West Indies ; all others of the genus are from the eastern
world, Japan, China, and the Philippines. The beautiful
spouted and tubed P. solaris, known to Linneus, but still
extremely rare, is from Malacca.

The elegant Staircase Zrochus constitutes the type of
the genus Solarium, to which several interesting species
are referred. It presents, as the name implies, a mimic
_ staircase, winding down the interior of the shell; such as
Titania, wearied with her journeyings and seeking for a
quiet resting-place, might have rejoiced to find,—

When Night her curtains
Did throw aside, and forth with dripping locks
Came her meek sister, Twilight, waking up
All early birds, and, chief, the soaring lark,
That bodieth forth his matin song, ’mid clouds
Of gold and purple.

150 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

The architect is little in accordance with the imbodyings
of his elegant design. If his dimensions were gigantic,
instead of being somewhat diminutive, he would realize
one of those strange monsters who are fabled to inhabit
enchanted palaces. He stands on a kind of pillar-like
supporter, his flat head is prolonged into two horns, and at
the base of each are short pedicles, supporting his axis.

Family 8. Puricacna.

Artists, methinks, are these,
Of no small worth, and such as duly keep
The laws of nature, swerving at no time
From fitly doing what those laws enjoin,
Teach they of shape or hue, or transverse lines,
Or beauteous mouldings.

Shell distinguished by having the columella strongly
plaited, and the base entire, without indication of any
sinus. Animal of marine habits, furnished with a horny
operculum.

This family presents a distinct group. Little is known
concerning their instincts; and yet, although associated
till lately with the Voluta, Bulimus, and Auricula, the shell
is found to differ m an important point from the first

PLICACEA. 151

genus, by wanting the notch at the base which indicates the
passage of an uplifted fold of the mantle used for the con-
veyance of water to the breathing organs; and from the
last by an oceanic location—a fact assumed from the hard
porcelain structure of the shell, which seems to indicate that
the constructors are of marine habits, denizens neither of
fresh water nor of land. They have, moreover, a horny
operculum, which serves to protect them in their watery
location.

Two genera, the Pyramidella and Tornatella, both very
limited im species, are alone referred to this family.

Assuming that every creature is wonderfully constructed,
and adapted to its sphere of being, whether pertaining to
the elements of earth, or air, or water, the two preceding
genera have, without doubt, an especial reference to their
individual localities ; the peculiarities of such locations must,
however, remain unknown. We know little concerning
the bed of ocean, as regards its geographic character,
although sufficient has been discovered to prove that it is
equally varied with the land ;—that huge marine rocks lift
their summits to the air and light ;—that plains extend in
all directions ;—and deep sloping valleys, with caves, and
giant sea-weeds, exhibit an infinite variety of oceanic vege-
tation.

152 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

Such, consequently, are the haunts of all such species as
pertain to the above-mentioned genera. The first has dif-
ferent members, residing either in the Eastern Seas, or in
such as lave the shores of New Holland and the Mauritius,
where they exhibit pyramidally turreted shells, composed of
many whorls, forming an acuminated spire, and having a
small semi-rounded aperture, with the plaits of the columella
more than usually reverse. The latter present, im their
typical form, the reverse of that already described as belong-
ing to the Pyramidella. Instead of a small aperture and
long drawn-out spire, the shell is of an oval Bulla form,
with a short spire and oblong aperture, reaching nearly to
the summit of the body-whorl. The plait or plaits of the
columella range obliquely, and are strongly developed.

Among the few species yet discovered, the rarest and the
prettiest, 7. coccinata, is from the Philippine Islands ; others
are from Japan, Peru, and the Red Sea.

Family IX. [ANTHINEA.

Smooth as an inland lake, the deep blue sea;

And blue the heavens, for not a cloud doth flit
Athwart their dome! What mimic fleets are these,
That seem to ride at anchor on the deep ?

Animal: head large, prolonged into a short swollen pro-
boscis, having a perpendicular mouth, lips thickened and
furnished with prickly hooks or plaits, a pair of unequal
tentacles on either side and above the neck, the front one
shorter, and having, at the outer base, a very small indistinct
eye; foot short, with a broad fin-lke appendage, and a float
of vesicles. Shell globose, turbiniform, thin and brittle,
whorls either rounded or inclined to angular at the periphery,
columella long and straight, margin at the aperture thin,
never reflected.

Feelings of admiration are associated with the family of
Tanthinea when recurring to their wonderful construction,
and adaptation for a watery element. The beautifully
reticulated lung of an air-breathing mollusk is changed
into a gill for the respiration of water; the mouth is smgu-
larly adapted for the grinding of hard flesh-food of marine
origin, which otherwise could not be readily digested ; and

154 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

to the foot is attached a broad dilated fin, and float, composed
of small bladders, for the evident purpose of enabling the
animal to move readily in his watery location. And beau-
tiful is the effect produced by tiny fleets of Janthing, when
calmly riding on the billows of the ocean. Mr. Arthur Adams
relates that, in his passage on board the Samarang, from the
Cape of Good Hope to St. Helena, several days of calm were
experienced, during which the South Atlantic, appearing
like asheet of glass, was covered with innumerable Janthine,
Physalia, and Velelle, with companies of flying-fish, and
solitary skip-jacks, which suddenly emerged from its depths,
and disturbed the stillness by their flights and splashings.
He observed that, during the act of swimming, the broad
fin-like appendage of the Junthina was fully extended,
while the vesicular float preceded the shell, and kept it in a
reversed position on the surface of the water. The females
had evidently a power of detaching certain portions of the
float, with their egg-containing sacks; for, among the vast
numbers obtained in the trawls, many specimens occurred
with hardly a remnant left, while several isolated floats were
taken up. The high seas, therefore, are evidently the home
of these beautiful mollusks; and Mr. Adams further relates
that he has seen a fleet of many hundreds wrecked on the

IANTHINA. 155

coral reefs of the Meia-co-shima Islands, making the shore
quite blue at the water line; that, also, he had captured
them in masses when adhering to one another by means of
the sucker-like fore-part of the foot, in a manner analogous
to that of bees; but that, although alive and uninjured,
they never made the slightest effort to crawl, which mode
of progression seemed to be denied them. ‘They can, how-
ever, put forth the end of a long proboscis when either
alarmed or injured, which proboscis is armed with numerous
curved hooks, and ejects a pretty violet-coloured fluid (which
appears to be evanescent as iodine), with the view most pro-
bably of bewildering their enemies. ‘The sailing parties,
noticed by Mr. Adams, comprised about four distinct
species, which seemed in perfect harmony with one another;
they became more numerous towards the evening, and en-
tirely disappeared when the breeze sprang up and ruffled
the surface of the sea.

The Janthinma, thus wonderfully adapted to a watery
location, is endowed with the property of emitting a phos-
phorescent light, and stains the hand with a rich purple
colour, which is not easily removed. He is one of the very
few among fragile shell-covered mollusks that inhabit the
ocean; but, although offering no resistance to the fury of

156 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

the waves, he rides upon them in perfect security, wandering
into almost every sea, whether tropical or temperate, and
deriving from his admirably constructed float a power of
rapid motion and wide distribution, with that of active
agency in aiding the movements of their aquatic neighbours.
Captain King met with a specimen far off at sea, a little
north of the equator, during his expedition to the Straits
of Magalhaens, so loaded with a species of barnacle and
numerous ova, that the upper portion was entirely concealed.

Thus beautifully has a modern poet alluded to the distant
range, and often stormy habitat, of this apparently defence-
less creature :—

‘No gentle rivulet or lake,
Adapted to my slender make,
Where I may softly stem the tide,
And smoothly o’er the surface glide,
Was the safe path allotted me;
But I am cradled on the sea,
Where breakers dash, or ightnings glare,
And hideous monsters grin and stare,
All threatening to devour my bark,
And hurl me to destruction dark.
But He who placed me there, well knew
My weakness, and my danger, too.
And He who rides upon the wave
Is God—omnipotent to save

NERITACEA. 157

The meanest, vilest, weakest thing,
That to his faithfulness will cling.

I knew my little fragile form

Could not resist the angry storm;

I owned my weakness—sought for aid,
And every foe a friend was made.
And I was taught to find a home

Tn the rude billows’ raging foam,
Where I could rise at ease, and see
My most entire security.

Oh! I would praise the God of Love,
Who sits the water-floods above.”

Family X. Nerrracea.

How beautiful, in all their varied forms,

Is this small brotherhood of perfect shells, —
The home of toiling mollusks, who delight

To frame their dwellings as their sires of yore,
And then to paint them with most perfect skill.

Shell abruptly transversely convoluted, and more or
less globose, with the spire short, and the last whorl much
enlarged,

This family comprises two very distinct groups. The first,
including the genera Navicella, Neritina, and Nerita, in-
habit seas and rivers: of these, the animal is small, and

158 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

the shell remarkable for its beautiful varieties of painting.
The second, consisting of the genera Natica and Sigaretus,
is characterized by an animal of larger proportions, gene-
rally more or less enveloping the shell, by a thickened ridge,
and dilated extension of the foot. The species of this
division are uniformly marine.

Such are the two separate groups into which the family
Neritacea is divided ; and these, like nations, have their dis-
tinctive characters.

The genus Navicel//a comprises a small genus of fresh-
water mollusks, of which the shells are singularly depressed
and convoluted, resembling that of the Shpper Limpet,
although having little affinity with the Limpet tribe. They
inhabit flowing streams, and their symmetrically formed
shells are not subject to the distorted irregularities of
growth which pertain to such as live attached to the rough
surface of marine rocks.

Their shells are generally mottled in lines or subtrian-
gular patches, radiating from the apex, and they are covered
with athin fibrous olive epidermis, the interior being mostly
of abluishtinge. The operculum is composed of two parts,
doubtless with a reference to the habits or location of the
animal: the one is internal, imbedded between the middle

NAVICELLA. 159

of the disc and the viscera, and occupying the spiral
chambers of the shell; the other is of a stouter substance,
and appears to radiate at a right angle with the former.

Navicelle are singularly restricted in their geographical
distribution. They are unknown to Europe and the western
hemisphere, but abound in the streams of the Philippine and
Feejee islands; they are found also in New Guinea, New
Treland, New Holland, and in Mauritius and the neigh-
bouring isles, where they serve as food to the poorer
natives. The largest species is prettily variegated with
yellow upon a dark olive-black ground. The WN. lineata
and Jtecluziz are delicate both in shape and colour; they
are compressly oblong, and resemble a fragile boat, of which
the septum forms the poop.

Neritme, or Fresh-water Nerites, have scarcely any
geographical restriction, except in the frigid and cold tem-
perate zones. ‘The genus is represented bya humble but
very prettily painted species on our own coast, and is
plentiful in the West Indies, as also frequent throughout
the continent of North, South, and Central America.
Magnificent specimens were collected by Mr. Cuming in
the Philippines, among which the N. /adiosa, a fine stout
richly-painted shell, is, perhaps, the largest. Nerite are

160 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

also more or less plentiful in Sumatra and other islands of
the Oriental Archipelago, in India and in South America.

Shells of the Werié7n@ are more stoutly convoluted than
those of the Navicella, and, as regards the animal inhabitants,
there is little difference beyond that which results from dif-
ferent locations. The former dwell principally on river-banks,
and are found not unfrequently on palms and water-loving
plants.

Few species present any variation of sculpture beyond a
slightly plicated or granulated surface, with the exception of
such as are coronated with a row of hollow-spouted spines,
either short or long. Some are even curiously winged on
each side, as the V. dilatata and latissima.

Sea Nerites construct shells of solid growth, and adorn
them with extremely vivid colours, which are yet so variable
that the closest observation is required to understand their
specific relationship. They are also characterized by varia-
tions of sculpture which do not pertain to the fresh-water |
genus. Many are strongly ribbed, others grained, and, in
some species, the NV. ornata, and well-known Bleeding-tooth,
N. peloronta, the flat columellar septum is dentated.

With regard to the animal inhabitant of the genus Nerzta,
it differs little from the Nerztina. The creatures affect

NERITE. 161

different locations, and hence considerable differences occur
in the composition and substance of their shells, according
as they mhabit the ocean, or dwell peacefully in estuaries,
or places where the water is merely brackish, or else in the
vicinity of springs and stagnant marshes, beyond the in-
fluence of the tide. Nerites are mostly distributed, like the
Neritine, throughout the globe, though chiefly confined to
the equatorial regions. ‘Their name, of poetic and legendary
origin, is pleasingly associated with the thought of ocean,
and of quiet streams, on the banks of which some of the
fresh-water species delight to dwell.

A small shell of the same brotherhood is mentioned by
Pennant as common to the coasts of Glamorganshire. Of
these a considerable number were recently discovered, to-
gether with ivory bodkins, rods, and balls, in the cave of
Paviland, fifteen miles west of Swansea, and not far
distant from the Worm’s Head. ‘This weather-beaten and
solitary cave was once most probably the scene of human
labours. Fragments of charcoal and the bones of oxen led
to this conclusion; and it seemed probable that the small
yellow-tinted shells had either been preserved for their
beauty, or used in a simple kind of game, which is still
common in that part of Glamorganshire. Remains of a

M

162 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

Roman camp are yet visible on the summit of a hill which
rises above the cave, a fact that seems to throw some light
as regards the date of the bleached skeleton that lay there.
Whatever might have been the occupation of the spirit
that once inhabited it, the vicinity of a camp would afford a
motive for residence in a spot which is now a wind-beaten
and uninviting solitude.

Family XI. Prristomara.

Worthless, perchance, men call them; yet, methinks,
Sages might gather wisdom, on marsh sides,

Or where lone waters, dark and sullen, creep,

Mid ferns and sedges ; for most strange forms dwell
Within their precincts, creatures that can breathe

In air or water, as the seasons change

From wet to dry.

Shell globose or somewhat turreted, and covered with
a dark olivaceous epidermis ; aperture generally round,
with the margin continuous. Animal fluviatile, furnished
with an operculum, either horny or calcareous.

Three genera are referred to this family. The first,
Valvate, are generally found upon aquatic plants, or in
ponds and ditches. They may readily be recognized by

PALUDINA. 163

small spiral shells, with a discoid or rather elevated spire,
by round and convex whorls, a circular aperture, with con-
tinuous margin, and a simple and acute lip. The oper-
culum is acute and spiral, and the inhabitant uses it,
without doubt, as a door whereby to exclude the cold of
winter, during his long sleep.

Concerning the second, Paludima, we may briefly state
that shells of this genus are very numerous in the great
rivers of India and’ America, particularly near the sea,
and in places where the water is a little brackish. Their
shells are ovate or conoidal, covered with an olivaceous
epidermis ; the spire is somewhat turreted, the whorls are
round, and either smooth or carinated, and the aperture
is also round or ovate, the margin being continuous, and
the lip simple and acute. The operculum is horny and
orbicular, either waved or spiral.

In the third genus, Ampullaria, a peculiarity of structure
bears an obvious reference to existing circumstances. The
species mostly inhabit shallow stagnant pools, where, in
summer, the water is frequently dried up, and, in order to
meet the contingencies inseparable from such reverse posi-
tions, the animal is provided with two distinct apparatus, the
one for breathing in water, the other in air. They are thus

M 2

164 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

preserved from extinction during the heat of summer ; and,
when no longer surrounded by their native element, they
await without inconvenience the overflowing of their arid
dwelling-places.

This peculiarity of character was first made known by
Guilding, in his ‘Zoology of the Caribbean Islands,’ and
has since been confirmed by some specimens of Ampullarie

brought by M. Cailliaud from Africa.

Family XII. Munanzana.

Those who go forth to gather shells by streams,
Or mountain torrents, or still imland lakes,
Find but scant beauty in their dingy forms ;
Yet each, methinks, doth fitly fill some space,
And hath its own small sphere of quiet duty.

Shell turriculated ; columella sometimes thickened at the
upper part; aperture entire or emarginated, margins dis-
joined. Animal strictly fluviatile, and furnished with a
horny operculum. ‘Two genera belong to this family.

The genus Me/ania is found located in lakes, rivers, and
rapid streams, which often sweep onward, with thei breadth
of waters, through deep and primeval forests. ‘Their shells
exhibit little of external beauty, and are, for the most part,

MELANIA. 165

of that dark dingy colour which more or less characterizes
the shells of all water mollusks ; they are, also, generally
eroded.

Several varieties have been discovered in the great rivers
of America.

Why is it that throughout the domains of nature, with
the exception, we believe, of fishes, some instance of perfect
black occurs in each? Mollusca are not exempt ; the shell
of the genus Melanopsis is covered with a deep black
epidermis, and presents in this respect a singular contrast
to the exquisitely tinted coatings of some other species.

In Melanopsis the shellis fusiform, or conically cylindrical,
covered with a black epidermis; the apex is sharp, the
columella smooth, often thickened towards the upper part,
and more or less truncated at the lower ; aperture generally
oblong, acute and somewhat canaliculated above and deeply
sinuated below, lip a little reflected, and the operculum
horny, spiral, and small.

Such, by river-side or stream, in deep sea-caves, and
along the shores of this and other countries, are different
members of the Order Pectinibranchiata.

166

FAMILIES OF PULMOBRANCHS.

Family I. Liymnamana.

These wayside creatures dwell
In fens or marshes ; hence their simple shells
Are thin and smooth, for little strength they need,
And their dull habitat clothes them im suit of gloom.

The Lymnzana constitute a small family of air-breath-
ing mollusks, which live in water. They chiefly inhabit
fens, and stagnant pools, and wayside ditches, beside which
the marsh-marigold and bright blue mouse-ear often
attract the passer-by. Those who stand on the margin of
such stagnant or sluggish waters, may observe small bubbles
on their surface, occasioned by the sudden emerging of these
strange mollusks, in order to breathe freely. And yet they
are endowed with the singular faculty of occasionally sus-
pending their respiration for a longer or shorter period,
according to need. When, therefore, their homes—the
marshes, or wet ditches — become dry during the heat
of summer, they are enabled to await, without injury, the
return of rainy weather, on which the humidity of their
location generally depends.

LYMNAANA. Loe

Four genera pertain to the family Lymnceana :—Planor-
his, Lymnaea, Physa, Ancylus. No further particulars of
interest are recorded concerning this family ; but the mind
is naturally directed to that inexplicable faculty, by means
of which these apparently insignificant creatures are enabled
so to use their breathing-organs, or else by internal me-
chanism readily to separate from the water so much air as
suffices to preserve them when completely overflowed.

The lungs of land animals bear a relation to the air, as
a permanently elastic fluid, and by such relationship they
live and move; they cannot breathe in water, neither is it
necessary—they have an important mission to fulfil on land :
with the family of Lymneana the case is different. As yet,
nothing is ascertained concerning the purpose which they
are designed to effect in the economy of nature; though,
doubtless, there is a purpose; why else the power of sus-
pending the action of their breathing-organs, by which
the breath of life is preserved in them ?

Shells of the Lymneana are rather thin and smooth ; the
aperture is generally large, with a simple, acute, but never
reflected margin.

168

Family IJ. AuricuLacra.

e

Some dwell by ocean wave, in lake, or pool ;
Others affect dry stones, mid fern and moss ;
Others, again, the banks of such great rivers
As Europe owns not.

The shell of the Awriculacea is, for the most part, of an
oval form, the columella being either dentated or strongly
plaited ; the aperture is longitudinally oval, and the hp is
either thickened or simple, often dentated within, in the
same manner as the columella. Animal either terrestrial
or aquatic, and destitute of any operculum.

Three genera belong to this family—Awricula, Scarabus,
and Chilina—each of which possesses a distinctive character,
both as regards its construction and location.

The first is uniformly amphibious, living either on the
sea-shore, beside lakes and rivers, or in fens and marshes,
among bulrushes and sedges, where the bittern sounds his
drum, and the lone shrill cry of the water-rail is heard at
eventide. The second differs materially in its habits trom
the Auricula. None of the genera are aquatic, or even
peculiar to marshy places: they affect dry stones, and may
readily be discovered among the roots of trees in woods.

Plate ax:

& Nichols, amp

Reeve

—
eee

W Wren e jarh

AURICULACEA. 169

The third constitutes a group of considerable importance,
intermediate between the two families, the Auriculacea and
the Lymneana, and partaking equally of the characters of
both. The members inhabit chiefly the vast rivers of South
America, but more especially La Plata ;—

“The sea-like Plata, to whose dread expanse,

Contiguous depth, and wondrous length of course,
Our floods are rills.”’

Different genera of the second family present, therefore,
familiar instances of diversified locality and restricted
haunts; no one ever trenches on the dwelling-place of
another. Such as remain contentedly in stony places, or
among the roots of trees, have no wish to roam beyond
their precincts: they neither covet the favourite locality
of the marsh-marigold and bright blue mouse-ear, nor yet
the ample waters of those sea-like rivers which sweep
onward in their silent dignity through the plains of the
New World.

The shell of this family is much more solid than that of
the preceding, and is mostly coated with a stout epidermis,
beneath which the animal frequently deposits some variety
of colouring.

wal

Family III. Cycnostomacna.

A wider range have these,
Than such as haunt the waters: mountain’s side
They climb unbidden ; ay, o’er mighty plains
They journey fearless, instinct-taught, to find
The smallest stream that, oozing, maketh damp,
It may be, some small space no eye discerns.

The shell of the Cyclostomacea varies exceedingly in
form, being either globose or turreted ; the aperture is
round or semilunar; and the hp, which is generally re-
flected, is sometimes indented near the columella with a
canal or fissure. The operculum, common to all, is either
horny or subcalcareous.

This family is divided into four genera :—Pupina, Trun-
catella, Cyclostoma, and Helicina.

Conchologists relate that the foot, or organ of locomotion,
in the Zrwacatella, is formed, as it were, of two parts, and
that he is enabled to move with considerable facility by
contracting the space between them into the form of a
hoop—hence the cognomen of “‘looping-snails,” which Gray
assigned to this genera; that, further, being partially
aquatic, the animal can live either under water or on land:

CYCLOSTOMACEA. yi

in proof of which, it is related by the Rev. R. T. Lowe,
of Madeira, that a specimen was removed from the water,
together with several other aquatic mollusks, and put into
a dry box, where they remained undisturbed for at least five
weeks. On being taken out, and placed in a glass filled
with sea-water, the Zruncatelle showed signs of life, and
soon crawled forth, but the other mollusks were quite dead.

The genus //e/icina includes many beautiful and new.
species, In addition to those described by Gray in his
‘Zoological Journal.’ ‘They were conjectured, in past days,
to be decidedly aquatic ; but D’Orbigny found several species
of this interesting family, journeying through South America,
on open plains, as, also, upon the eastern side of the Andes,
though generally in damp places, at two thousand metres
above the level of the sea. St. Vincent, also, is one of
their favourite localities; yet they scarcely, if ever, descend
below two thousand feet above the sea, while such as are
peculiar to Barbadoes abound in open and dry places.

Cyclostome are abundant everywhere, and display con-
siderable variety and symmetry of convolution, as well as
the most attractive patterns of colouring.

172

Family IV. Cotrmacza.

Doth God take thought for oxen? Lower still
Than oxen, or the conies, feeble folk ;

Or the small birds that wing the yielding air,

Or fishes gliding through the azure deep,

Cr creatures in green lanes, on mossy banks.
Scorned though they be, His guardian care extends,
His love doth bless! Look on that quiet creature,
At home, and yet abroad. It hath small beauty
With which to please the eye. No use hath it,
That man can tell; and yet no work of art

May rival that poor simple garden-snail,
Progressing on, without or feet or wings,

Imbued with life, and having its own cares,

And quiet pleasure, which man knows not of.

The family of Co/imacea, or Snails, stands at the head
of that portion of Gasteropodous mollusks to which Lamarck
gave the name of 7rachelipoda, or neck-moving. A complete
affinity may be traced among them, and hence has arisen
many schemes whereby to establish a definite form of clas-
sification. The author of ‘Conchologia Systematica,’ think-
ing it, however, of little consequence whether the species
are arranged in tens, giving to every ten a name, or in
hundreds, giving to each a name, so long as a method is

COLIMACEA. PIS

adopted, subservient both to memory and convenience, has
divided the Colimacea into nine genera, distinguishing the
Auriculacea and Cyclostomacea as separate families. ‘The
former differ in being partially aquatic, and in their shells
being always strongly plaited at the columella; the latter
are terrestrial, their shells are distinguished by the rotundity
of the aperture, and in being uniformly operculated.

The geographical distribution of this interesting family
is a subject of no small interest in connection with that of
mollusks in general. Climate has, doubtless, a decided
influence in this respect; but, as a greater uniformity of
temperature prevails in the waters of the ocean than on
land, the diffusion of marine mollusks is more extensive.
As yet, no means have been discovered whereby to ascertain
the submarine provinces of shells, as those of terrestrial
and even subaqeous plants, although no doubt exists that
the boundaries both of latitude and longitude, with regard
to oceanic shells, are in general well defined.

The following are nine genera into which the family
Colimacea are divided :— Helix, Carocolla, Anastoma, Pupa,
Clausilia, Bulimus, Partula, Achatina, and Succinea.

Paley justly observes, that a snail-shell is a wonderful, a
mechanical, and, if we may so express ourselves concerning

174: INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

the works of nature, an original contrivance. ‘“ Other
animals have their proper retreats, their hybernacula also,
or winter quarters, but the snail carries these about with
him. He travels with his tent; and this tent, though
necessarily both light and thin, is completely impervious
either to moisture or to air.” The young /e/izx, like his
numerous brethren of the univalve order, emerges into
life with a covering adapted to his exigencies, which en-
larges with his growth by means of a certain viscous exu-
dation from innumerable pores. Now the aptness of this
secretion to the purpose for which it 1s designed, its property
of congealing into a firm and hard substance, independent
of any effort on the part of the inhabitant, cannot be re-
ferred, as the same admirable writer has justly observed,
to any other cause than express design; and that not on
the part of the unconscious artist, who, although he might
build the house, could not supply the materials. Moreover,
the form of the building, with its pillar and convolution,
is not only a very artificial one, but admirably adapted to
the exigencies of the inhabitant ; which is confessedly one
of the most feeble and unprovided of all artificers. Nay
more, the testaceous coverings of such as live on land, or
inhabit still ponds and ditches, are scarcely able to resist

HELIX. 175

the slightest pressure; while in others, their defensive
strength suits well with the lives of those that have to
sustain the dangers of a stormy element and a rocky
bottom, as well as the attacks of voracious fish. The sealing
up of the aperture of the shell, which serves in several
species as an effectual protection against the cold of winter,
is, also, admirably adapted for security as well as warmth.
But the epiphragm is not of the same substance as the
shell ; evidently because the animal would be then unable
to break down the enclosing barrier, when the return of
spring invites him from his winter quarters. In the midst
of an almost endless variety, a striking regularity is never-
theless discoverable. However different individuals may
vary in form and colour, according to the sites which they
are designed to occupy, in one point they almost univer-
sally agree :—the number of whorls in the same species
is generally, if not always, the same; and these, with a
few exceptions, are uniformly in one direction, that is, from
right to left, ike the motion of the globe, when the mouth
of the shell is turned northward, with the base towards
the ground.

The common snail is soft, spongy, and transparent, and
is provided with horns, or tentacles, at the extremities of

LG INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

which the eyes are situated, appearing like small dark spots,
sparkling and orbicular. These, on the approach of danger,
are rapidly inverted into the head, which immediately dis-
appears beneath the shell. In the course of a few seconds
the horns appear, the eyes run up the narrow transparent
channel down which they had descended, and the Helix
journeys on its way.

Now the reason for such a peculiar construction is ob-
vious. The snail is thus enabled to command a more
extensive sphere of vision than if the eyes were situated in
the head. Moreover, the pliability of the tentacles enables
them to turn in different directions, while the ease with
which they are capable of beg extended or contzacted,
admits the ready withdrawing of the head into the shell ;
an arrangement which beautifully harmonizes with the
extreme weakness of the animal.

Shakespeare notices this striking peculiarity. “I can
tell,” said the faithful adviser of King Lear, “why a snail
has a house.” ‘“ Why?” rephed his unfortunate master.
“Why, to put his head in; not to give it away to his
daughters, and to leave his horns without a case.”

The movements of the common //e/a are remarkably
slow. But how shall we account for this extraordinary

COMMON SNAIL. Lit

fact, since the snail is light, and small, and apparently by
no means incapable of comparatively rapid motion? Doubt-
less by the viscous nature of his juices, which are extremely
tardy in their circulation, and consequently produce a con-
siderable degree of sluggishness in the movements of the
animal. ‘This idea was first suggested by Mr. Braidley.
He observed their circulation in a snail just hatched, the
body and shell of which, being quite transparent, enabled
him to discover that the pulsations of the heart succeeded
each other at the distance of three seconds.

A casual observer might be inclined to pity the poor
creature for the deficiency of his moving powers. But let it
not be forgotten that the defect of the He/ia, in this respect,
is amply compensated.—The peculiar nature of his juices
seems to have a reference to its mode of life; for no degree
of natural or artificial cold has ever been known sufficiently
powerful to congeal them. Thus, while the common worm,
which incautiously has left his shelter in the garden mould,
is frequently discovered in a frozen state, and even birds
and small animals fall victims to the severity of the weather,
the snail is rendered insensible to cold, and either burrows
in the earth, or seeks the shelter of some hollow tree, til]
invited from his subterraneous dormitory.

N

178 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

Appian beautifully notices the creeping movements of
this curious little animal, in the following characteristic
lines :-—

“ When loved Arcturus leaves the main to rise
A star bright shining in the evening skies,
Then prune the vine; *tis dangerous to delay,
Till with complaints the swallow breaks the day,
When with their domes the slow-paced snails retreat
Beneath some foliage from the burning heat.

And scarcely has the burning heat of summer been suc-
ceeded by the chills of autumn, than these slow-paced
creatures begin to hibernate, or retire within their domes.
This is effected by covermg the entrance to their shells
with an irregular layer of mucus, which gradually hardens,
and forms a calcareous door, that effectually excludes the
cold and wet. ‘Thus protected, they remain torpid through
the winter ; but with the return of spring, and the opening
of green leaves, the calcareous covering is either broken
by the eagerness of the mollusk to come forth, or else
becomes absorbed.

The smallness of his domicile prevents the snail from
laying up a supply of food, but this is rendered unnecessary
by his extraordimary powers of vitality and abstinence,—in

COMMON SNAIL. 179

proot of which it is recorded, on undoubted authority, that
instances have occurred of snails, after having been shut
up in a torpid state for years, putting forth their heads in
full animation, when placed upon a fresh green leaf.

The common snail pertains to a very numerous brother-
hood of mollusks, which are more or less distributed
throughout the globe. They are destitute of feet, but the
want is obviated by such an arrangement of muscles and
fibres as renders them capable of a progressive and undu-
lating movement in any direction to which the will of the
animal determines.

But why such an extraordinary combination to provide
for the security, and promote the comfort, of an obscure
mollusk ? et the great truth be solemnly impressed on
our minds—God has made nothing in vain. It is a clue
that will safely conduct us through many of the intricate
mazes of the great labyrinth of nature, as far, at least, as it
is permitted for finite beings to explore them. In many
instances we are unable to comprehend the intentions of
the Deity with regard to the construction of his creatures ;
in others, their uses are so obvious that they cannot be
mistaken. ‘The common chickweed, and the different
species which constitute the genus He/vz, are apparently of

N 2

ESO INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

little worth; yet the former, during winter, is nearly the
sole support of innumerable flocks of birds, and without
the latter a considerable proportion of the animal creation
would be extirely destitute of food. In the formation of
both, the Creator has deviated from his usual course, to pro-
vide for their security, and compensate for all their various
and necessary defects.

A considerable number inhabit aquatic plants; others
are found on trees or shrubs; and others in decayed wood.
They also abound in the most unfavourable and arid
situations. The few solitary vegetables which occasionally
diversify the extensive sands on the south side of the
Tagus, are incrusted with a species of small snail. Such
is also stated by African travellers to be the case in the
deserts of Sahara.

The Heliz pomatia, or Edible Snail, differs ttle in appear-
ance from the common species. His tribe was introduced
into England by the celebrated Sir Kenelm Digby, as food
or medicine for his lady, when afflicted with consumption ;
and various attempts have been made to naturalize them in
Northamptonshire, but without success, as they uniformly
refuse to emigrate from the southern woods of England.
They are more susceptible of cold than their brethren, and \

EDIBLE SNAIL. 18]

close their apertures with a calcareous lid on the approach
of winter, during which they remain torpid till the spring.

The same species are used as food during Lent in several
parts of Hurope, for which purpose they are fattened in
large reservoirs strewed with herbs and flowers. Anciently
they formed a favourite dish with the luxurious Romans,
who fed them on bran and wine till they grew to such a size,
that, according to the exaggerated testimony of Varro, each
shell would contain a quart. The temperance of the younge
Pliny will, therefore, be no longer a subject of admiration,
whose suppers consisted of a lettuce for each guest, three
snails, two eggs, a barley cake, sweet wine, and snow.
Fulvius Herpinus is said to have introduced this luxury,
shortly before the wars of Czesar and Pompey.

Helices furnish even now an important article of food on
the shores of the Mediterranean, where they are boiled in
their shells, and served up with rice. They possess much of
the quality of oysters, being extremely nutritious; hence the
use of them not unfrequently retards the fatal termination
of that less active form of consumption called a decline;
and so long as a sufficient quantity can be obtained, many
patients appear convalescent, from the rapid recovery of
their strength, owing to this nutritious diet.

182 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

Various conjectures have been hazarded respecting the
means by which the Israelites were supported during their
rapid flight from Egypt, as we are informed im the sacred
volume that “the people took their dough before it was
leavened, their kneading-troughs being bound up in their
clothes upon their shoulders,” and that ‘they were thrust
forth out of Egypt, and would not tarry, neither had they
prepared for themselves any victuals.”

Pére Sicard conjectures, with great probability, that the
edible snail furnished a considerable portion of their food.
This gentleman, in company with M. Fronton, took the
very same journey as that pursued by the children of Israel,
in their departure from Egypt. It lay through a valley
between Mount Diouchi and Mount Torah, and leads to
the shore of the Red Sea, opposite Mount Sinai. The
following is an extract from his interesting narrative.—

“ Although the children of Israel must have consisted
of above two millions of souls, with baggage, and in-
numerable flocks and herds, they were not likely to ex-
perience any inconvenience in their march. Several thousand
persons might walk abreast with the greatest ease, in the
very narrowest part of the valley, in which they first began
to file off. It soon afterwards expands to above three

EDIBLE SNAIL. 183

leagues in width. With respect to forage, they would be
at no loss: the ground is covered with tamarisk, broom,
clover, and saintfom, of which latter, especially, camels are
passionately fond, besides almost every variety of odori-
ferous plant and herb proper for pasturage.

“The whole of the sides of the valley, through which
the children of Israel marched, are still tufted with brush-
wood, which doubtless afforded food to their beasts, toge-
ther with many drier sorts for lighting fire, on which the
Israelites could, with the greatest ease, bake the dough they
brought with them, on small iron plates, which form a
constant appendage to the baggage of an oriental traveller.
Lastly, the herbage underneath these trees and shrubs is
completely covered with snails of a prodigious size, and of
the best sort; and, however uninviting such a repast might
appear to us, they are here esteemed a great delicacy. They
are so plentiful mm this valley, that it may be literally said
that it is difficult to take one step without treading on
them.”’*

Such are the curious facts which reward the exertions of
those who delight to trace the footsteps of unerring wisdom,
as they appear impressed on far-off shores, or in the depth

* Schimmelpenninck’s ‘ Biblical Fragments.’

184: INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

of ocean. But let not him who is confined to inland
scenes lament that these researches exceed his fortune or
powers of exertion. The mossy lanes which surround his
quiet dwelling, or the river that waters his native town, will
afford subjects of investigation and improvement. In the
shady recesses of the one, or on the margin of the other,
he may learn to acknowledge that the wonders of creation
are inexhaustible.

For my own part, when I hear of mollusks being able
to suspend themselves by means of silken threads from the
branches of trees, in order to escape the rapacious grasp of
their enemies, or when I watch the common snail slowly
ascending the cavernous trunk of some aged tree, or climb-
ing up a garden wall, without the aid of wings, or feet, or
thread, solely by the aid of muscular contraction and dila-
tion, and consider the secret spark of life which is in each
of them,—that where we look for absolute destitution, and
can reckon upon nothing but wants, some admirable con-
trivance amply compensates for every apparent deprivation,
preserving them, and their still more feeble offspring,—my
mind is carried up to the praise and adoration of that
Gracious Being, whose wisdom, beneficence, and power, are
thus conspicuous in the humblest of his works.

ANOSTOMA. 185

In Anostoma, the last whorl of the shell is suddenly
turned upwards, in a very singular manner, and this is
presumed to indicate a considerable change in the habits
and economy of the animal inhabitant when arriving at
maturity. Until then he must crawl about like others of
his relatives, with the spire of the shell uppermost; but,
during the formation of the last whorl, he must, doubtless,
take a sudden and reversed position, as in the full-grown
shell the aperture appears to be on the obverse side to that
in the Hehx, namely, on a plane with the spire, which then
becomes undermost.

The Clausitie derive their name from being furnished
with an elastic bony appendage attached to the columella
by a slender pedicle, obviously designed to close the
aperture. ‘This curious appendage, unlike the operculum,
which uniformly adheres to the animal, is a mere addition
to the mouth of the shell: it is formed when the animal
attains his full growth, and when about to complete the
mouth of his shell, and answers, without doubt, some
important, though as yet undiscovered purpose, in the
animal economy.

Vegetation, heat, and moisture, with distinctive pecu-
liarities of habit, affect not only the shelly coverings, but

186 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

also the tints of terrestrial mollusks ; hence conchologists
easily distinguish such as dwell on the ground from those
which climb the trunks of trees and feed among the
branches, also such as inhabit regions of drought or ex-
cessive dew, from those which are assigned to rainy and
woody districts. Budimi present, in this respect, examples
of the deepest interest: they are distributed over the equa-
torial, the tropical, and warm temperate regions of the
earth, in specific assemblages, circumscribed as regards
their range, and exhibitmg m their shells a very distinct
typical character.

The molluscous inhabitants of the shells are much less
variable, and, being naturally sluggish, with limited powers
of locomotion, rarely migrate to any considerable distance,
even when not prevented by the natural barriers of seas,
or deserts, or mountain ranges. Owing to their frequently
dwelling in the branches of trees, Mr. Lovell Reeve considers
them to be fitter subjects of mvestigation, with reference
to the laws of geographical distribution, than their relatives
the Helices, which are more habituated to dwell on the
ground, and are less influenced by local circumstances.
Some few Bulimi are, however, prone to remain on earth,

BULIMUS. 187

but when this occurs, very little difference is perceptible
among such as inhabit countries that lie far apart.

We owe to an admirable paper, by Mr. Reeve, ‘On the
Geographical Distribution of the Bulimi, the valuable
information that the localities of about five hundred species
are known, and that the majority are registered, with their
circumstances of habitation. This paper, communicated at
a meeting of the Royal Society, speaks also on the modi-
fication of their calcifying functions, according to the local
physical conditions in which the species occur; and men-
tions that their area of geographical distribution lies be-
tween 40° south and 35° north, in the New World, and
42° south and 60° north, in the Old World—that is, be-
tween the southern extremity of Chili and Texas in the
former, and between Van Diemen’s Land and Sweden in
the latter ; and, further, that within this wide range, no
locality, however dissimilar, exists, in which the Budlimi are
not found. Little variation occurs with regard to the
mollusks themselves, but, as respects distinctions of form,
composition, and system of colours, forty typical assem-
blages of species are distributed over this area, in seven
provinces, of which three-fifths belong to the western
hemisphere, and the remaining two-fifths, with a wider

188 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

range, and more decided local variety of character, in con-
formity with a greater diversity of soil and climate, inhabit
the eastern. The seven typical provinces of distribution
are mentioned as Venezuelan, Brazilian, Chilian, Bolivian,
Caucasian, Malayan, and African, among which, such local
advantages as are most favourable to the calcifying fune-
tions of the Bulimi, are, abundance of decaying vegetable
matter, with an equable temperature of from 80° to 85° in
dark, close, humid woods, among shady thickets or in deep
ravines, over which

“Looks out the joyless sun,
And draws the copious steam from swampy fens,
Where putrefaction into life ferments,
And breathes destructive myriads.””— Thomson.

On sandy plains, and shores of thin calcareous soil,
where the vegetation is parched and scanty, or on wide
savannahs, Budimi are distinguished by light and often
vividly coloured shells ; mn such, on the contrary, as burrow
in the earth, the shell is mostly colourless and often of a
grassy texture. Their highest range is in intertropical
America, and they extend in both hemispheres, according
to the parallels of equal temperature laid down by Hum-

BULIMUS. 189

boldt ; their calcified condition corresponding also with the
northward curves in his isothermal lines along the western
coasts of South America, and those bending southward on
the eastern side. Consequently such Lwlimi as inhabit
Chili are less vivid in their tmts, owing to the vapours
precipitated by the great Atlantic current of cold water,
which flows nearly to the Gallapagos Islands, than such as
are assigned to the opposite Brazilian coast, beside which
the equinoctial current rushes with its mighty waters.
Recent geological changes which have taken place in the now
barren and riverless Patagonia, have suddenly arrested the
genus; and with reference to the distant islands of the
Pacific, Bulimi are curiously represented by other genera
of terrestrial mollusks; while species inhabiting islands
that approximate towards the neighbouring continents, as
Trinidad for instance, partake of characteristics that pertain
to those of the main land.

The European species belong to the Caucasian type,
which has its centre in Asia Minor. Shells of its numerous
genera are mostly colourless, owing to the dry and juiceless
character of the thorny vegetation, which affords but scanty
nutriment ; and the mollusks themselves, having little
inducement to roam abroad, mostly remain concealed under

190 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

blocks of wood or stone. This type reaches nearly to the
south-eastern corner of Asia, where it is suddenly met at
Burmah, and in the Malacca peninsula, by the richly-
coloured Malayan type, which is so abundantly and beau-
tifully represented in the islands of the Hastern Archipelago ;
and truly its distribution among these islands is remarkably
local.

Bulimi of Northern Africa have much in common with
their European brethren ; while such as dwell south of the
equator belong to a totally different type.

Thus far is the conchologist indebted, for deeply inter-
esting and valuable information, to the researches of Mr.
Reeve, whose summary of collected facts will doubtless
prove suggestive of future observations, and mduce such
travellers as take pleasure in natural history to acquaint
themselves with the geological and physical history of the
earth’s surface, and, while noting the precise localities and
circumstances of habitation connected with various genera,
to aid in determining the laws relating to geographical
molluscous distribution.

191

Family V. Liacrnza.

I would counsel thee,
If young in science, to note well the page
Which thus unfolds the structure of strange forms:
Despised it may be, yet most fitly made
For destined purpose.

With the family Zimacinea terminates the great series
of air-breathing mollusks, of which the most part are found
buried in damp earth, where they subsist on small worms
and various vegetable matter. Their leading characteristics
are intermediate between those of the Aplysia and the He-
ices; resembling the former in the nature and purpose
of their shells—namely, that of affording protection to the
respiratory cavity,—and the latter as respects their general
habits and organization. ‘The breathing apparatus varies
considerably in its position :—in some it is situated on the
anterior portion of the body, in others at the*back, in
others, again, it occupies a middle place, whilst the shell,
being internal or external, is either simple or spiral.

The Limacinea are divided into four genera—Parma-
cella, Limax, Testacellus, Vitrina.

The genus Parmacella was instituted by Cuvier, for the

192 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

reception of a newly-discovered mollusk, allied to the |
common slug, but, instead of having a shell inserted near
the neck, it is situated about the middle of the back, and
is enclosed in‘a small fleshy scutellum, or shield.

Limaces, or garden-slugs, a genus of mollusks with
which most people are familiar, appear to have been men-
tioned in the earliest records of natural history, but the
knowledge of their being occasionally provided with an
internal shell is comparatively of modern date. ‘They have
few, if any, redeeming qualities in the opinion of gardeners,
and yet even these unsightly creatures have a place in the
creation, for which they are wonderfully constructed. They
possess an internal shell, as already noticed, which is in-
serted within a fleshy shield upon the back of the neck,
and may be described as somewhat irregular, nearly square,
smooth, and of a calcareo-crystallme composition, with a
thin epidermis.

Anothe® variation, with regard to the position of the
breathing cavity, occurs in the genus Zestacellus. This im-
portant organ is placed far back, and consequently the
shell, which m this genus is uniformly external, is fixed,
as it were, to the tail.

The Vitrina somewhat resembles his brother Zestacellus,

aise

Pog

¥

Lop

Reeve & Nichol:

W Wang lith

x

GARDEN-SLUG. 193

but instead of having a simple shell, adhering to that part
which is the seat of the breathing cavity, the hinder ex-
tremity of the animal is enclosed within a small spiral and
fragile shell, covered with a green shining epidermis, into
which he can only partially retire.

One, therefore, of these neglected mollusks carries his
spoon-shaped shell externally, about the middle of his back;
another, within a fleshy shield upon his neck; a third bears
it attached to his tail; a fourth presents it as an obvious
and shell-like appendage. And yet, although no con-
chologist would deem either the one or the other worthy of
a place in his cabinet, their construction is equally deserv-
ing of regard, as those which are elaborately painted and
adorned.

The mollusks, also, though plainly coloured, and ap-
parently of little worth, are beautifully tinted; every part
of even the common slug is varied with light and dark
spots, arranged with inimitable skill.

Look on that feeble creature, and observe how readily he
progresses, without feet, a small locomotive engine, and
moving occasionally with a considerable degree of swiftness.
But how is the want of feet compensated? By the joint
action of longitudinal and annular fibres, which are capable

0

194, INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

of being shortened or lengthened, drawn up or stretched
out; and the result of this action is a progressive move-
ment of the slug in any direction that he wills.

The meanest creature is an aggregate of wonders, a beau-
teous and elaborate piece of mechanism, which man cannot

unitate.

NUCLEOBRANCHS.

Ages have passed since storm-wreck’d mariners
On old Beotia’s shores found, ’mid the embers
Left by their beacon fire, a wondrous substance,
Which men call glass, and which in after times
Proved as a gift from heaven, so great its use.
Yet Carinaria, with her glassy shell,

Perchance at that same moment floated by.

Mollusks which pertain to the above order exhibit a
peculiarity of organization, on account of their feathered
branchice being enclosed in a nucleus projecting from the
back, and covered with a transparent glassy shell, in a man-
ner distantly analogous to the way in which the branchiat
cavity is protected in the Ap/ysie@ ; and although the general

CARINARIA. 195

type of their organization agrees with that of the Gastero-
poda, it passes through a wide degree of modification.

The ventral disc, for example, which presents a prominent
feature in the rest of the class, is here represented by a
gelatinous fin, by aid of which the mollusk, being scarcely
ever at rest, swims longitudinally on the water with his
shell downward.

The solitary genus Carinaria was instituted by Lamarck
for the purpose of distinguishing a beautifully transparent
shell, commonly known as the Glassy Nautilus, which, as
already stated, is designed to cover a small nucleus con-
taining the organs of respiration. This transparent shell
may be compared, in its appropriation, to those elegant
glass shades beneath which exotic ferns are often nurtured.

Carinari@ are very abundant in the Mediterranean and
Indian seas ; they congregate in considerable numbers, but
are rarely visible except at night. ;

Beautiful Carinaria, with thy glassy shell, surely thou
art one of the greatest wonders in the deep, though thyself
but small. Men think much of that strange substance
which opens to the naturalist a miniature world, and assists
the astronomer in discovering new stars, which excludes
the wind and rain, and enables the inhabitant of northern

0 2%

196 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

climes to cultivate the fruits and flowers of exotic regions.
But thou, peerless shell-fish, dost carry upon thy back a
globe of glass, to cover the complex organ with which thou
breathest, not formed by the art of man nor curious device,
but given by thy Creator, and pertaining to thee alone.

FAMILIES OF PLEUROBRANCHS.

Tokens, in truth, are these,
Which Ocean handeth forth from out its waters,
That men may further search, and searching find,
More wondrous subjects, worthy of deep thought.

This order includes certain mollusks in which the bran-
chize, or breathing organs, whether placed under the edge of
the mantle, as m the Cyclobranchiata, or in a particular
cavity, as in most of the Cervicobranchiata, are uniformly
on the right side. A natural group of mollusks is thus
brought together, allied, moreover, by other, and, perhaps,
more important affinities ;—creatures of strange forms and
instincts, inhabiting dissimilar localities, yet everywhere ex-
hibiting the wisdom and beneficence of their Creator.

APLYSIA, 197

The Pleurobranchiata are not all conchiferous, and of
such the generality have merely a thin horny shell, con-
cealed within the mantle, either on the back, or over the
breathing cavity.

The order Pleurobranchiata is divided into three families :
—Aplysiana, Semiphyllidiana, and Bullacea.

Family I. ApLysrana.

Strange mimicry of forms,
Which earth reveals, and causing, in old times,
Men to shrink back with dread from near approach.

In this small family the shells are concealed within the
fleshy substance of the mantle; instead, however, of being
inserted on the back, they cover the breathing cavity, which
is situated on the right side only of the body.

Two genera belong to this family—Aplysia and Dolabvella.

The Aplysia depilans of Linneus, the type of this genus,
early attracted the attention of naturalists. His singular
resemblance to a crouching hare, increased still further by
the ear-shaped structure of the tentacula, gave rise to the
appellation of Sea-hare, both among the Greeks and Latins,
and by the former, especially, this strange creature was re-

198 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

garded with no little superstition. He was believed to exude
both a poisonous scent and liquid, and even the sagacious
Pliny has recorded supposititious properties which it is un-
necessary to repeat. Hence both fishermen and naturalists
equally avoided the watery haunts of the Sea-hare, beau-
tiful though they were, and verging on classic shores, where
the Nereids were fabled to resort.

The shell of the Dolabella is internal and calcareous,
generally covered with a horny integument, and in shape
somewhat resembling a hatchet : the posterior side is narrow,
thicker, slightly spiral, and a little reflected over at the
edge; the anterior side is smooth, wider, and entire at the
margin.

But why, it may be asked, is this particular description
of shell-fish which apparently have neither beauty nor
utility? For an obvious reason; namely, that the singu-
larity of their structure may awaken a desire to become
acquainted with its appropriation. True it is, that obscure
shell-fish, when cast upon our shores and whitening in the
sunbeams, are seldom sought for or regarded with any
degree of interest. Yet is not this negligence somewhat
reprehensible,—a putting away from ourselves sources of
refined enjoyment which the Creator of the Universe has

SEMIPHYLLIDIANA. 199

mercifully opened for the solace and instruction of his
reasonable creatures ?

Family Il. SemipHy tirana.

There dwell more curious things
Beneath the waters, than men ever thought,
Or poet feigned.

In this family the breathing organs are arranged on the
right side only; that 1s, only half-way round the mantle ;
and hence the name given by Lamarck of Les Semiphylh-
diens.

Their shell is smooth, sometimes calcareous, sometimes
horny, and either external or internal.

The family includes two genera—Pleurobranchus and
Umbrella.

The Pleurobranchus exhibits a peculiarity in the breathing
organs—their position is right-sided, and their structure
plumose. They are occasionally conchiferous, and when
this occurs, the shell, being small and merely of a thin
horny texture, is concealed within the fleshy substance of
the mantle. .

The genus Umbrella has an external, dorsal, orbicular

200 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

and smooth shell, the upper surface rather convex and
generally white, the vertex being small and situated near
the centre; the under surface is slightly concave, the
central disc of a brown yellowish rich colour, with an
irregular, continuous, muscular impression running round it.

Little is known with certainty concerning these sin-
gular mollusks. One thing, however, is certain—they
cannot give utterance to any emotions that may dwell
within them. A modern writer has beautifully remarked,
that harmony is nature’s homage; it may be found in the
rolling wave, that foams upon the rugged coast, as well as
in the silent murmuring of the rippling stream. In ani-
mated nature, the melody of sweet sounds is more palpable
to the ear, for in our gardens and about our dwellings the
birds never cease to please us with an endless variety of
song; but from whatever source such harmony arises,
whether from things animate or inanimate, certain it 1s,
that mollusks are silent. ‘This is a curious fact, of which
the insect tribes present but few examples. Insects, in-
deed, are voiceless, in the usual acceptation of the word,
but they possess the language of signs, and these they are
singularly enabled to render audible.

201

Family III. Buiiacea.

Creatures that dwell at ease in quiet waters,
Where no wild waves lift up their crests of foam,
Nor furious winds lay bare the lone sea-caves
Which Nereids haunt, as fabling poets tell.

This family, with its one solitary genus, Bud/a, comprises
a small group of mollusks, provided with a fragile, ightly-
convoluted shell, either partially or altogether concealed
within the mantle. .

Linneus included within the genus Bud/a many species
of very dissimilar construction, but Bruguicre introduced
a complete reformation, retaining it for the reception of
those thin, fragile, bubble shells of which the Bulla fasciata
or dignaria may be regarded as the type.

We may consequently assume that the molluscous occu-
pant of the genus Bul/a is an inhabitant of comparatively
still waters, where the waves gently heave, and then subside
upon a sandy shore; or else that the creature dwells deep
beneath the main. We may see in this adaptation of the
simple mollusk to calm waters, a beautiful illustration
of the proverb that “God tempers the wind to the shorn
lamb.” The fragile shell of the solitary Bud/a is utterly

202 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

inadequate to contend with either winds or waves; he is
therefore commissioned to abide where neither can work
him woe.

FAMILIES* OF CERVICOBRANCHS.

Look on the wondrous structure of that organ
Through which the breath of life doth come and go.
How strange its form, and yet how fitly made ;—
A living channel, with most curious windings,

A water-course, yet borne upon the neck

Of such as range at will in deepest waters !

The Cervicobranchiata are so called because the respira-
tory organs are situated at the back of the neck, in an ob-
lique line, either upon the surface or in a particular cavity.

A variety of modifications are discovered in the breathing
apparatus of such mollusks as pertain to the present
order, and their shells are of a very anomalous character.
Those of the Siliquarie and Haliotides, for instance, differ
materially in their growth, notwithstanding the affinity of
their animal inhabitants; but an analogy subsists between
these two genera, which could not have been anticipated

DOLABELLA. 203

until the nature and position of the breathing organs be-
came known. The respiration of each requires a continual
current of water; and not only is the mantle slit or perfo-
rated in that part which covers the cervical cavity, but the
shell also, and thus the peculiar formation of the branchie
has led to the detection of an affinity between two mollusks
which had previously been assigned to different parts of the
system.

The brief description that pertains to every order seems
to us like a door-way opening into a well-ordered museum ;
and, as the ancients caused appropriate inscriptions to be
carved on the doors of public buildings, we desire to pre-
sent our youthful readers with the following elegant and
appropriate lines :—

“‘ Nature never did betray
The heart that loved her ; *tis her privilege,
Through all the years of this our life, to lead
From joy to joy ; for she can so inform
The mind that is within us, so impress
With quietness and beauty, and so feed
With lofty thoughts, that neither evil tongues,
Nor greetings where no kindness is, nor all
The busy feverish cares of daily life,
Shall e’er prevail against us, or disturb
Our cheerful faith, that all which we behold
Ts full of blessings.” —Hurdis.

204: INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

The order is divided into four families—TZwbispiracea,
Macrostomata, Capulacea, and Fissuracea.

Family I. Tusisprracza.

What have we here ?
Two twisted shells, vet varying, as best suits
Their indwelling mollusks.

Shells of this family may be described as tubular, and
irregularly twisted into a loose spire, with a slit occasionally
running throughout its entire length. The animal is fur-
nished with a horny operculum.

Two genera belong to this family—Svdiquaria and Ver-
metus.

The shell of the genus. Scdiquaria is tubular, somewhat
cylindrical, and irregularly twisted ; the posterior end is more
or less attenuated and loosely produced into a spire, which
becomes unrolled towards the anterior end, the extremity
being open, and the fissure, which is sometimes a little
articulated, runs throughout its entire length.

Little dissimilarity prevails between the shell of the
Vermetus and that of his brother, except that the interior of
the shell is often divided by transverse septa. The aperture
is round and simple; the operculum horny and concave.

VERMETUS. 205

The conchologist longs to become acquainted with the
habits and facilities for enjoyment that pertain to the above- —
mentioned genera; he discovers a difference in their shelly
habitations, and is naturally induced to conjecture that this
dissimilarity has some important bearmg on the economy of
the indwelling mollusk. It may be that the one requires
to be continually in communication with his native element ;
that the other dwells alone in his curiously divided chamber,
leading a kind of hermit life, and having little communi-
eation with the outward world. Be this as it may, it is
reasonable to conclude that in both, though probably sight-
less, the sense of feeling is not wanting; that if the sense
of seeing or of hearing is withdrawn, the one of which we
speak is peculiarly acute ; and that, further, the approach of
any extraneous substances is readily discovered by the un-
dulations of the aqueous element which they inhabit.

206 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

Family Il. Macrosromata.

What spread ye now upon the sounding shore,
In your wild mystic dance, ye circling waves ?
Sea-weeds and shells, of varying form and hue ;
But chief, the shell of Midas, that choice shell
Than which no others brought by curious hands,
From out the waters, hath more perfect beauty.

Shells of the Wacrostomata are slightly convoluted, per-
forated occasionally with a regular series of holes, having
a short spire and large aperture; and sometimes the shell
is almost entirely enveloped by the mantle.

Four genera belong to this family—Velutina, Sigaretus,
Stomatia, and Hatiotis. Hach have, doubtless, some pecu-
liar or interesting characteristics, both as regards the mol-
luscous mhabitant and his shell; but as yet, no facts
deserving of mention have been obtained, and, therefore,
passing over their generic descriptions, we shall speak only
of the Haliotis, or Sea-ear, as being the most evolved and
depressed of spiral shells, and presenting a singularity of
structure by which it is readily distinguished. The sin-
gularity consists in a row of equidistant perforations on
the left side of the shell, made by the animal in his progress

HALIOTIS. 207

of growth, for conveying water to the breathing organs ;
and the mantle being partly slit enables the water to pass
into the respiratory cavity through a tubular filament pro-
truding from each perforation. These filaments and per-
forations are the same both in youth and age, except when
the hindmost orifice is occasionally filled up.

Internally the Sea-ear is led with a bright pearly nacre,
which is often extremely brilliant, and glows with all the
colours of the rambow. ‘The discrimination of different
species depends, however, on external sculpture, and is in
nowise effected by the beauteous adornment of the inner
surface. Perforations vary, according to the taste, it may
be, or necessities of different households, but generally
correspond in individuals of the same species; whenever
an exception occurs, it uniformly indicates that the shell is
inhabited by an adult, because when the mollusk arrives at
maturity, he generally closes one or two of the perforations
in advance of a fresh opening.

Few, if any, Halotides are found where Cfitons fix their
dwellings, and it seems as if their geographical distribution
was exchanged, to a certain extent, in the two hemispheres.
A few specimens are found in California, but along the
western coast of South America, where Chitons are most

208 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

abundant, not a single Haliotis has ever been discovered,
and only one small species, the H. puleherrima (or, the very
beautiful Zadio¢is), in the islands of the Pacific. They
inhabit the coasts of China and Japan, of Ceylon, Mozam-
bique, and the Cape of Good Hope, with those of Borneo
and the Philippine Islands; but the most remarkable are
from New Zealand and the continent of New Holland,
and these invariably present all that peculiarity of design
which characterizes the Fauna of those isolated regions.

The same distinctiveness is discoverable also in the
Haliotis tuberculata of the Channel Islands. The species,
although comparatively abundant at Jersey, is rarely col-
lected on the coasts of England.

Haliotides are found at low water, attached to the under
surfaces of masses of stone. ‘Their sense of hearing is
apparently very acute, for the slightest alarm causes them
to adhere with great force to the rocks, by means of
suction.

Many of the shells are extremely beautiful. The magnifi-
cent Haliotis Cunninghamii, brought from Australia and New
- Zealand, is finely sculptured on the outside with wrinkled
strie ; the colour is of a light rusty red, variegated with
flame-like patches of blended green and brown. ‘The fine

HALIOTIS. 209

dark coral-red ZZ. rwfescens developes large, oblique, swollen,
undulating waves, and in proportion as the back is worn
down, the colour becomes of a bright red. And very
curious is the fact, that, contrary to the analogy of plants
or birds, the beautifuily painted MZaliotis Kamtschatkiana,
although inhabiting the cold shores of Oonalaska, in the
Northern Archipelago, has more the appearance of a tropical
than a northern species, and presents a brighter display of
colours than any of the genus. ‘The entire surface consists
of wavy swellings, variegated in a somewhat tessellated style,
with dark coral-red and bright verdigris, over which the
spiral ridges pass here and there, articulated with red and
white.

Burke has well remarked concerning the natives of
the deep, and his observation equally holds good with
regard to numerous mollusca, that although they never
quit their native haunts, they speak a language far more
emphatic than the thunders of the Vatican. They have
each their favourite resorts, either in marine valleys or on
open plains, beneath the shelter of sea-rocks, or in their
fissures; and while many affix themselves by the aid of
ropes, which they form readily, others range at large
through extensive forests of sea-plants, than which none

P

210 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

in the vegetable kingdom present a greater variety of
specific form.

Family III. Capunacsza.

Look on the tiny anchors, by whose aid

Some shell-fish moor themselves to slippery rocks,
Heedless of waves or winds, that madly rage
Around their homes: they all unmindful,
Dwelling in silence.

Compensatory contrivances are frequently observable in
the lower orders of creation, by means of which local
disadvantages are obviated. The present family, which
constitutes a natural and well-defined group, presents,
in this respect, an interesting and peculiar organiza-
tion, conferring the power of depositing a testaceous cup
or plate on the smooth and slippery sides of marine
rocks.

Four genera belong to the Capulacea, in each of which
a striking peculiarity exists :—Crepidula, Calyptraa, Hip-
ponyx, and Pileopsis.

The genus Crepidula comprises that portion of the
Capulacea 1n which the internal appendage assumes the
shape of a horizontal septum or shelf (the Shpper Limpets).

CUP-AND-SAUCER LIMPETS. QEE

The genus Calyptrea includes all those in which the
septum gradually becomes modified to the form of a de-
tached cup (the Cup-and-saucer Limpet).

A new and remarkable property has been lately discovered
by Mr. Cuming, as pertaining to a mollusk of which the
shell is closely allied to that commonly known as the
C. equestris. This distinguished naturalist, having arrived
at the island of Zebu, one of the Philippines, found on the
coral reefs, which extend to some distance from the shore,
numerous dead shells among the deposits of the ocean, in
consequence of which he sought for some days to obtain
living specimens. Vain, however, were his attempts, till at
length, curiosity having induced him to desire the removal
of a mass of coral, that lay sunk nearly two feet in the sand,
about low-water mark, he caused his attendants to lift it
with the aid of levers. After much toil they succeeded in
raising the mass sufficiently high to admit of ascertaining
that the animal he was in search of lay beneath. The
creature adhered to the under surface, and when Mr. Cuming
endeavoured to move the shell, he found that it rested on
a strong calcareous plate, resembling a flat saucer, and
evidently deposited to facilitate its attachment. His anxiety
to secure this interesting mollusk in a perfect state, induced

Be

pT? INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

him to direct his men to cleave, if possible, the mass of
coral. At least an hour was thus employed, and, after great
fatigue, the portion to which the animal adhered was
broken off before the tide had risen so high as to render it
unsafe to remain upon the reef. Mr. Cuming repeated
his search the next day, and having caused several huge
blocks to be lifted up, some few specimens were found
beneath, but the heavy blows that were required to break
off the portions to which they were affixed, either split the
accessory plates, or chipped off the edges.

Numerous dead shells were observed lying in like manner
upon coral reefs at the island of Bohol, another of the
Philippines, as also some living specimens in the same
hidden places as at Zebu. The large masses of coral
that concealed them, rested immediately on beds of coral
sand. No hollow space was discoverable around the
shells; they were actually pressed by the immense weight
to some depth in the sand, and, from the dark rusty
appearance of the time-worn coral, Mr. Cuming concluded
that they must have existed in their confined habitat for
many years.

In the genus Hipponyx the cup can only be considered
as an irregular accessory, deposited by the foot in order to

CAP-LIMPETS. 213

facilitate its adhesion to a rock or stone, and therefore not
necessary to its existence. But the Mpponyces do not
always exercise this property; they are frequently found
without the appendage, and when they adhere to other
shells, the same object is gained by a peculiar power of
absorption.

The shell of the Hipponyx is obliquely conoidal, cup-
shaped, and generally supported upon a solid testaceous
cup; both the shell and cup exhibit two muscular im-
pressions, rounded and connated in the form of a horse-
shoe.

Members of the genus Pi/eopsis evidently become fixed
without the power of displacing themselves; they resemble
the Hipponyces in being able to form suitable places of at-
tachment upon other shells, but they cannot deposit a
protecting cup or plate.

A pleasant community of quiet creatures is thus en-
abled to colonize upon the rocks, safely mooring themselves
by means thus wonderfully assigned for their well-being,
and enjoying, it may be, with grateful hearts, the abundance
that is continually impelled within their reach. The tide
approaches, with its might of waters and dread sounds, but
they fear no ill; the artillery of waves and winds is borne

-

914 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

against them, and breakers scale the rocks, ay, such as might
wreck many a proud vessel, yet they heed them not. They
know that the winds and waves are messengers of good to
them; and the mollusk who looks forth from his dwelling
when the waters have subsided, sees around him a plentiful
provision for all his wants.

Family IV. Frssuracea.

** Her place each wondrous creature keeps,
Amid unfathomable deeps.”

Shells pertainmg to this family exhibit the channel by
which water is communicated to the branchial cavity, either
by an internal siphonal impression, by a marginal sinus, or
a complete perforation or fissure, and this m exact ac-
cordance with the habits and localities of each. ;

The five genera are as follows :—Lottza, Siphonaria, Par-
mophorus, Emarginula, and Fissurella.

The genus Loétia has been till lately associated with the
Patella, as scarcely any difference is perceptible, except in
the arrangement of the breathing organs, which, instead of
being symmetrically disposed round the body, are situated
in a cavity at the back of the neck.

KEY-HOLE LIMPETS. 215

In the genus Siphonaria the same organ is within a
cavity similarly placed, and the canal or siphon is formed
by the passage of water for purposes of respiration.

The Parmophorus has a communication between the
branchize and the water, from the anterior side of the head ;
the shell is nearly flat, and merely indented at the edge
with a kind of sinus.

The breathing organ in this genus Hmarginula varies
between that of the Parmophori and Fissurella ; the shell
is small, shaped either like a depressed or slightly elevated
Cone.

In the genus Missurella the shells are perforated at the
summit, for the purpose of conveying water to the respira-
tory cavity. This perforation, which is generally of an
oblong oval shape, was especially noticed by early natu-
ralists; and although the Mssuwrel/z, or Key-hole Limpets,
were usually regarded as distinct from the Patella, or
common Limpets, they were not elevated to the rank of a
genus. Bruguicre was the first to accomplish this desirable
separation, and the genus has now become one of consider-
able interest on account of the new and beautiful species
that have been contributed by Mr. Cuming, and which,
mostly exhibiting an elegant variety of painting, are highly
esteemed by collectors.

216 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

Each of these interesting genera might be regarded by
a casual observer merely as Limpets, but, when carefully
examined, they are found to possess characteristics that ex-
clusively belong to each.

Little is known with certainty as regards their peculiar
habits, and the Conchologist, when looking at them, can
only regret the impossibility of becoming acquainted with
all their instincts and detailed peculiarities. They dwell,
it may be, among those groves of gigantic alge, whose tall
yet sessile stems rise to a great height and partly float on
the surface of the water by means of imnumerable air-
vessels, which give them buoyancy; or, perchance, in coral
caves, where phosphorescent insects shine lke tiny lamps
among the fissures, and light the creatures of whom we
speak, in their perambulations from place to place. Nor
is this the fond imagining of poetic fancy, nor yet the
reverie of one who delights in fairy legends; the luminous
appearance of the sea has long since been ascertained to
result from such minute insects, that one of them would
require to be magnified at least four hundred times before
attaining the dimensions of a grain of sand.

Who shall assign a limit to the wonders of creation!
Living lamps diffuse their cheering rays im solitary caverns,

Plate X1.

W Wing, lith . Reeve & Nichols imp .

CYCLOBRANCHS. PAWS

or amid the deep dark shade of innumerable sea-plants ;
they shine in the midst of a humid atmosphere,—nay, even
in the midst of water,—and beautifully illuminate those
depths into which the rays of the sun can never penetrate.
Perhaps, like the enchanted lamp of Armida, they allure
many a wandering mollusk,—or, in other words, as insects
of every description are powerfully attracted by hight, they
may compensate to numerous rock-adhering mollusks for
the deficiency of their moving powers.

The fire-flies of tropical regions afford sufficient light to
guide the traveller on his way, and why should not the
fire-flies or glowworms of the deep shed forth their mild
pale beams for the benefit of those imnumerable living
creatures that abound in the depth of ocean ?

CYCLOBRANCHS.

These creatures have a voiceless eloquence,
Heard ’mid the roar of ocean, though the waves
Lift up their voices, and the Storm his path
Makes o’er the mountain billows.

The respiratory organs of the Cyclobranchiata may be

218 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

described as being somewhat foliaceous or pyramidical
in form, and as presenting considerable symmetry ; they
are more or less continuous, and are placed around the
body in a regular series, beneath the edge of the mantle.

Three genera are referred to this order—Chiton, Chiton-
ellus, and Patella.

The great reformer of the Linnean school, when re-
cording, in the sixth volume of his ‘Animaux sans verteébres,’
a list of only six species of the genus Chiton, never
imagined that nearly ten times that number were dwelling
on the western shores of the Pacific, and as many more
among the rocks of Australia and New Zealand; that,
further, the aggregate of these united would, in the course
of twenty years, be nearly doubled by the discovery of
species in other localities; yet such are the fruits of recent
voyages and discoveries made by naturalists in distant
lands.

The first addition to the tropical species of this peculiar
genus was made by Mr. Frembly, on the coast of Chih.
The indefatigable researches of Mr. Cuming multiplied them
to an unprecedented extent, and we are now indebted to
the labours of Mr. Lovell Reeve for the exquisite engravings
of these and other species in his ‘Conchologia Iconica.’

CHITONS. 219

Linneus assigned the genus to a place among Lepades,
but Adanson transferred it to the immediate vicinity of the
Patella, and his opinion is confirmed by Cuvier.

The shell of Chiton, when compared with that of Pa-
tella, is not so different as to prevent the expectation
of some resemblance in their molluscous inhabitants; it
differs, however, very remarkably in being secreted in
eight separate pieces, sustained in order by a horny ex-
pansion of the mantle, and moving upon each other, after
the manner of plate armour, by the aid of three flexible
muscles attaching cross-wise to each plate or valve. The
horny expansion of the mantle is sometimes only marginal,
constituting a frame to the shell, and is characterized by a
variety of ornament. Thus, in one the horny ligament
appears in its simplest form, thin and transparent; in
another, it is covered with a rough arenaceous surface; in
another, with thickly-set calcareous bristles. The C. fasci-
cularis presents a row of dense tufts of brittle glassy spi-
cule ; and in the great C. Sithensis, in which the mantle
entirely envelopes the shell, the surface is crowded with very
close-set minute stars of glassy spicule.

The exposed portion of each valve in the shell of
Chiton, and that which is alone adorned by sculpture or

220 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

design of colouring, resembles a convex shield, supported on
either side by a raised, triangular, wing-like growth, forming,
as it were, the radii of a circular plate, which meet together
in the terminal valve. The shells possess considerable
beauty when closely examined, and few are more exquisitely
framed. The Lineated Chiton, C. /ineatus, is of an orange-
yellow, elegantly striped at the sides, with red white-edged
lines obliquely ranged and lightly waved ; the shell of the
Fulvous Chiton, C. fuivus, presents a series of fine opal
thread-like lines upon a dark fulvous-brown colour, as if
superadded by artificial means in body colour; and among
numerous others that might be instanced for their ex-
ceeding beauty, the finely-streaked Chiton, C. striolatus, 1s
covered with delicate transverse strie, so exquisitely minute
as only to be discovered by the aid of a powerful lens. A
stranger in looking at them might imagine that the con-
structors were active, energetic creatures, with every sense
and faculty in full exercise. This, however, is not the
case. They pass their sedentary existence in situations
almost inaccessible, but which the energy of recent travellers
enabled them to penetrate, either by dredging in deep
waters, or exploring storm-beaten shores, or searching
under isolated masses of rock at about low-water mark.

CHITON. yc |

None among the retired dwellers of the ocean so long
eluded the pursuit of the naturalist, but wherever found
they amply reward the labour of obtaining them, so curious
are they, and singularly varied, so exquisitely adorned,
and yet, when casually looked upon, having apparently
little of outward beauty to commend them.

Almost every sea, short of the circumpolar temperature,
contains different members of this genus, although unequally
distributed throughout this extended range. They are
most abundant on the south-west shores of America, Aus-
tralia, and New Zealand; the Eastern Archipelago, Pacific
Islands, Cape of Good Hope, the West Indies, Sitka, and
the shores of Europe and Asia.

The peculiar structure of the genus Chiton readily dis-
tinguishes him among the natives of the deep. But why
such a different conformation from that which belongs to
the testaceous coatings of innumerable others? Because
the habits and economy of this curious creature render it
needful that he should occasionally roll together into a ball,
like the hedgehog or porcupine, on the approach of danger;
and by this ingenious expedient he is not only effectually
protected from the attacks of his numerous enemies, but

222 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

is, perhaps, enabled to elude their vigilance, from the simi-
larity which he bears to a pebble perforated by the
waves.

This curious mollusk presents in his construction the
appearance of an oblong hirudiniform mass, without eyes,
and possessing a thin membranaceous veil in place of ten-
tacula over the mouth, which has a long spiral tongue,
furnished with horny denticles. The respiratory organs,
selected whereby to characterize the subdivision of the Gas-
tropods, consists of a series of pyramidal leaflets, which
encircle the body, as in Patella, within a depression
between the edge of the mantle and the foot.

Chitons are generally found creeping on the rocks, or
closely attached, as the Limpet, to stones or shells, or sea-
weeds, and not unfrequently to oysters, on the coast of
South Devon. But how, it may again be asked, is this
effected, for the Creator has denied to them the disc, or
byssus, which distinguishes different bivalves >—By means
of a gelatinous fluid, which exudes from the under surface
of the body. It seems the pleasure of the Deity to produce
the same results by an infinite variety of means.

The generic appellation, Cizton, is derived from a Greek
word, signifying a man’s tunic, and aptly expresses the

CHITONS. pep

folded appearance of the valves, which are not unlike the
lapping over of a thick warm tunic.

To extract sentiments of piety from the works and ap-
pearances of nature, is equally the duty and prerogative of
a Christian; it is enforced in the Scriptures, and hallowed
by the example of our Lord. “Behold the lihes of the
field: they toil not, neither do they spin; yet your Hea-
venly Father careth for them.” He expatiates on the
wonderful construction of a single flower, and draws from
it the delightful inference of confidence in God. He teaches
that taste may be combined with piety, and that the breast
which glows with admiration amid the loveliness of nature,
may be occupied with all that is serious and important in
religion.

But here the observation naturally arises, that though
the flowers of the field instruct us—for some of them are
beautiful and others admirable in their formation, and
poets and moralists refer to them as striking emblems of
the mutability of man,—yet, what knowledge or what in-
struction can we derive from the Chiton or Patella? I
will not further enlarge upon the obvious and important
evidences which they afford of benevolence and design. But
in considering the very different habitats of these extraor-

224 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

dinary mollusks, I have been induced to remember that
the same Almighty Being, who enables the Pated/a to re-
main unmoved in his conically-shaped dwelling amid the
fury of contending elements, who permits the feeble Chiton
to fold himself in a coat of mail resembling a perforated
pebble, and thus escape the notice of his marie enemies,
has determined the bounds of our different habitations, and
assigned to every individual being his respective sphere of
action; and that happy will it be for us, if we as steadily
perform our portion of allotted duty, as these feeble crea-
tures fulfil the purposes for which they are designed, in
accordance with their respective instincts.

Chitonelli may resemble their relatives the Chetons in
their general organization, but as regards the mantle, and
the structure of the shell, they differ materially.

The mantle is thick and fleshy, peculiarly elongated,
sometimes covered with a harsh down, but in general
tough and leathery, and invariably destitute of any horny
cartilaginous part, or spines or bristles, or calcareous ar-
mature.

Their valves, unlike those of the Chitons, which are
firmly set on a strong marginal cartilage, fitting and moving
one upon the other, like plate-armour, are of an oblong

CHITONELLUS. 925

form, with the inner projecting plates very much developed,
and firmly imbedded within the substance of the mantle ;
sustained by this alone, they are perfectly isolated from
one another, far removed posteriorly, but approximating
towards the head, where they are often much crowded by
the friction arisig from the creature’s disposition to thrust
himself into holes and crevices.

Chitonelli are peculiar in their habits. They dwell
among themselves, and are rarely found in company with
their relatives the Chitons. The latter abound on the
south-west coast of America, where at least fifty or sixty
species have been discovered; but not a single Chiton-
ellus is found among them. In the Philippine Islands, on
the contrary, which Ciitons seem instinctively to avoid, Mr.
Cuming collected the C. fasciatus, or banded Chitonellus,
in considerable numbers and of extraordinary size. Her-
mit-like, they dwelt m holes or cavities, either of natural
formation or else bored by other mollusks, into which
they could readily enter, by compressing themselves, even
when the dwelling was apparently too small. Holes or
circuitous crevices in coral rocks were their favourite
resorts in the island of Zebu, and into these they would
creep, leaving their hinder portions partially projecting

Q

226 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

from the opening in the rock. Specimens obtained by
splitting the masses of coral in which they dwelt, often
exhibited these curious creatures as having turned com-
pletely at right angles, and at angles again, within their
narrow abodes.

One exception to the isolated habit of the Chitonelli
occurred in a small species discovered by Capt. Sir Edward
Belcher and Mr. Adams, in the Corean Archipelago, in
the Yellow Sea. He was found in company with Chitfons,
and, on lifting the stone that covered his domicile, he tra-
velled away at about the pace of a garden-snail, in search
of retirement.

Considerable variety exists, therefore, in the mental cha-
racters of different mollusks. One, apparently like the
anchorite, loves to dwell alone, another prefers society, a
third associates only with his clan. He cannot endure the
neighbourhood of creatures formed like himself, with similar
necessities and inclinations, if they differ in even a few im-
material points.

Whether the ancient Greeks derived the name of Lepas,
anciently appropriated to animals of the Limpet kind,
from deras, a rock, as expressive of their being found at-
tached to rocks, or from dems, a scale, or rind, in allusion

LIMPETS. ays) |

to the manner in which marine rocks are frequently covered
with their small conic habitations, is a point of little con-
sequence.

The Latins distinguish them by the appropriate title of
Patella, the name of a small deep dish used for sacrificial
purposes ; and hence among early naturalists the names of
Patella and Lepas were regarded as synonyms. Linnzeus,
also, preferred to adopt the genus Pate//us wherein to in-
elude all mollusks having a dish-shaped shell; but as con-
siderable differences in their habits and organization have
become known, it has been divided into various genera.

The shell may be described as being elliptic, univalve,
not spiral, basin- or dish-shaped, or like a shield or de-
pressed cone, uniformly concave beneath, and having the
basal margin often crenated all round: the vertex or sum-
mit of the shell is mostly situated near the centre, and
always recurved anteriorly, that is, towards the head of the
animal, The muscular impression in the interior is elliptic,
and interrupted in the same direction.

Limpets are frequently associated with the beauty or mag-
nificence of ocean scenery. At one time their conically-shaped
dwellings are seen peeping from among mimic groves or
gardens formed of crimson, green, or brown-coloured sea-

Q 2

228 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

weeds, diversified with tufts of corallines, while above them
bright emerald waters flash and sparkle, and gently mpple
upon the shore; at another they attach themselves to bold
masses of huge weather-beaten and wave-washed rocks,
which appear as if covered with beautiful grey moss or
lichens, but are really encrusted with innumerableLim pets,
which cling to them amid the fury of contending billows.

In thus assigning the Limpet to different localities, it
seems as if the Creator of the Universe designed not only
to embellish their herbless haunts, but that life should be
manifested where utter sterility would otherwise prevail.
Each of those small cone-shaped dwellings is, therefore,
the home of some curiously-constructed being, endowed
with faculties for enjoyment, and admirably adapted to its
solitary location. |

Such were the reflections that arose within us, during a
solitary walk on the beach at Weymouth. The sun had
just risen, and his broad beams shed a dazzling radiance
on the vast expanse of waters,

“¢ Whose intervening billows’ snowy foam,
Rising successively, seemed steps of light,
Such as on’ Bethel’s plain the angels clomb,
When to the slumbering patriarch’s ravished sight
Heaven’s glories were revealed in visions of the night.”

LIMPETS. 229

The scene was indescribably pleasing. The earth, the
air, the water, teemed with delighted existence. Myriads
of “insect youth were on the wing,” trying their pinions
in the air, and sporting in endless mazes with conceivable
rapidity. Shoals of little fish darted through the sparkling
waves, or bounded from the shallow margin of the water,
as if rejoicing in their newly-discovered faculties ; while on
the nearest rocks a few mollusca, m the shape of sea-ane-
mones, expanded their imitative petals to the sun.

In the foreground a group of dark tempest-beaten stones
were covered with Limpets (Patella), the tapering summit;
of which, as the waves occasionally dashed them with their
spray, presented a beautiful variety of forms and colours.
They stood, like Ossian’s “lonely dwellers of the rock,”
solitary in the midst of numbers, and apparently incapable
of sharing in the general joy.—But, softly! has not Provi-
dence given to every class of beings its peculiar sources
of enjoyment? and is not the solitary Limpet exempt from
dangers which continually surround the finny natives of the
deep? Gradually the beams of the sun illumined the
tops of the rocks. One of the shells began to open. A
kind of leg, or foot, was carefully projected from beneath
the shell, which gently erected itself on one edge as if to

230 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

diminish friction, and, by a sudden spring, the creature
actually advanced to a considerable distance.

“This,” said a fisherman, to whom we pointed out the
movements of the Limpet, “is their common method of
proceeding. The form of the leg which you observed, may
be altered at pleasure: it answers the purpose of a foot, or
hand, by the help of which they are able to sink into the mud,
rise from it again, and even spring, as you have just ob-
served, from the rocks to which they generally adhere so
closely, that it is impossible to remove them without con-
siderable force; unless, for it seems that their sense of
hearing is very exquisite, you come upon them unex-
pectedly.””

We boast of our inventions in the arts and sciences,
forgetting that we are frequently anticipated by the feeblest
of created beings. The Torpedo defended himself from his
enemies by means of an electric shock, long before acade-
micians thought of making experiments in electricity. The
Limpet acted as if he understood the pressure of the atmo-
sphere, and attached himself to the rock by forming a
vacuum in his pyramidal shell, more than five thousand
years before the air-pump was invented.

LIMPETS. Paea i |

“In Nature’s all-instructive book,
Where can the eye of reason look,
And not some gainful lesson find,
To guide and satisfy the mind?
The simple shell on yonder rock
May seem, perchance, this book to mock ;
Approach it, then, and learn its ways,
And learn the lesson it conveys.
At distance viewed, it seems to lie
On its rough bed so carelessly,
That *twould an infant hand obey,
Stretched forth to seize it in its play.
But let that infant’s hand draw near,
It shrinks with quick instinctive fear,
And clings as close, as though the stone
It rests upon, and it, were one ;
And should the strongest arm endeavour
The Limpet from its rock to sever,
‘Tis seen its loved support to clasp,
With such tenacity of grasp,
We wonder that such strength should dwell
Tn such a small and simple shell.
And is not this a lesson, worth
The study of the sons of earth ?
Who need a rock so much as we ?
Ah! who to such a rock can flee 2
A Rock, to strengthen, comfort, aid,
To guard, to shelter, and to shade ;
A Rock, where fruits celestial grow,
And whence refreshing waters flow.

232 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

No rock is like this Rock of ours.

Oh! then, if you have learned your powers
By a just rule to estimate ;

If justly you can calculate

How great your need, your strength how frail,
How prone your best resolves to fail ;

When humble caution bids you fear

A moment of temptation near,

Let wakeful memory recur

To this your simple monitor,

And wisely shun the trial’s shock,

By clinging closer to your Rock.”— Wordsworth.

Little is known with certainty respecting the peculiar
habits of the Pate//z, or the purposes for which they are
designed. ‘They are placed on the boundary line between
such shells as are furnished with a regular spire, and those
which have none; and they afford, in common with innu-
merable mollusks, impressive instances that the Most High,
who has adorned this beauteous world with a variety of
singularly organized beings, has so admirably adjusted them,
that every part of the vast creation constitutes one beautiful
and perfect whole. To this splendid superstructure nothing
can be added, neither anything taken from it, without
producing a chasm in creation, which, however imperceptible
to us, would materially affect the general harmony of nature.

LIMPETS. 23a

In the rock-adhering Limpet, the senses of feeling and
taste, and perhaps hearing, are alone developed; another
species moves readily from place to place, though sightless,
as the Pizza ; a third apparently possesses every sense, with
_ higher instincts and facilities for enjoyment. Between these
an unbroken link of connection undoubtedly exists, and
therefore, when the observer arrives at certain gaps in the
chain of nature, or rather at certain divisions in the gene-
ral classification between which it is difficult to establish
an affinity, the deficiency can only be ascribed to the ab-
sence of forms which have eluded his researches.

Hence itis that the naturalist seeks earnestly, by the aid
of certain symbols or characters, to bring the objects by
which he is surrounded within the bounds of his mental
range: with this view he forms a series of artificial divisions,
such as classes, orders, and families, with still smaller sub-
divisions ; and while thus employed, he rejoices in the disco-
very of new forms, that tend to diminish the gaps which still
remain open, in a system which he knows to be all perfect.

Very beautiful are such fillings up, and happy is the
conchologist when permitted to add even one to those which
have already rewarded the researches of his predecessors
in the paths of natural history.

234 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

Among such is the Hadiotis, which Linneeus regarded as
affording a transition from the non-spiral to the spiral shell ;
the Jsocardia, an elegant species, distinguished by its cordate
symmetry, and forming an accurate transition from the
Cardia to Cardita; Cyprina, in like manner, which esta-
blishes a close affinity between the fluviatile and marine con-
chacea, and Psammobia, that serves to connect the genera
Sanguinolaria and Tellina ; lastly, the Myaria, which forms
a natural link between the Solenacea and Mactracea, and
partakes of the characters of both.

It is therefore evident that different kinds of creatures are
most harmoniously arranged, rising, in regular gradations,
with such a gentle and easy ascent, that the little transitions
are almost imperceptible ; that class is linked to class with a
just and admirable precision, by means of orders, having
affinity with both; one order to another; and genera to genera,
by innumerable and beautifully-constructed links; and that
creation is thus bound together, as it were, by a glorious
chain, that encircles its length and breadth.

“Oh, my God,” said the admirable Fenelon, “he who
does not see Thee in thy works, has seen nothing. He who
does not confess thy hand in this well-ordered world, is a
stranger to the best affections of the heart. He exists as

DENTALIUM. 935

though he existed not, and his life is no more than a
dream.”’

CIRROBRANCHS.

Another class of beings, such as men

Tn olden times knew not, for none had sought,
With curious ken, to trace each small design ;—
Though small, yet perfect, and befitting well
Some destined purpose.

The breathing organs pertaining to this order are cir-
rhous, symmetrically divided into two equal tufts of soft,
flexible, club-shaped filaments, attached to a pedicle on the
neck. Their structure is very peculiar, and is apparently
adapted for a twofold purpose ;—that of conveying the
vital oxygen to the blood, and that of drawing a current
of water by the active movements of their filaments.

One genus is alone recognized as pertaining to this
order.

=

The shell of the solitary genus Dentalium is described
as being tubular, regular, and symmetrical; it is either
smooth or fluted, and more or less curved, the concave side

236 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

being ventral, the convex dorsal; it is also much attenuated
posteriorly, and both ends are open ; the anterior aperture,
which is the larger, is simple, and generally oblique, and
the posterior, which is also simple, is sometimes slit on the
dorsal side.

The Dentalia were rightly placed by Linneus with the
mollusca ; not, however, from a knowledge of their anatomy,
but in accordance with his plan of referring to that division
all animals dwelling in a tubular testaceous shell. In so
deing they were mingled with Serpule, which produce a
shell of indefinite growth, and belong to the Annelides, or
Karth-worms, and were henceforth removed from them.
They are attached to their dwellings by a distinct muscle,
and are provided with an elongated sub-cylindrical foot,
whereby to make their way in the sand.

The shells of the Dentalia have not much colour, ex-
cepting two large green species, D. elephantinum and apri-
num, 2d a beautiful species collected during the voyage
of the Samarang, of large size, very richly variegated with
rose, olive-green, and white. One or two species are faint
yellow or horny amber, but they are mostly white. -

Many elegant and appropriate devices have been sug-
gested by natural objects. The fluted shell of the Den-

DENTALIUM. 237

falium is said to have furnished a design for the shafts of
Doric columns; a small basket of wicker-work, also, that
was left on the tomb of a young Grecian lady, and be-
came entwined with acanthus-leaves, suggested an appro-
priate ornament for the volute, or scroll, of the Corinthian
order.

238

CHAPTER VIL.
Crass II]. PTEROPODA.

“The sea! the sea! the moonlit sea!
How calm its slumbering tide,”
And, floating o’er the wide expanse,
Small boats in safety glide.

Tue limited class Pferopoda (from two Greek words, sig-
nifying wing and foot) contains a company of small twilight
deep-water swimmers, which obtain their powers of loco-
motion, as their name indicates, by aid of a pair of fins,
somewhat resembling wings, and which alone produce a
small, brittle, glass-like shell.

Cuvier was the first who treated them with any degree of
scientific accuracy; before his time their existence was
comparatively unknown, but since then the researches of
D’Orbigny and Souleyet have brought to light many curious
facts associated with their habits and geography.

PTEROPODA. 239

The first of these naturalists, who often passed whole
nights in contemplating myriads of these punctual mollusks
when floating on the sea, invariably observed that they
began to appear with the drawing on of twilight, and that
different species came to the surface with the utmost regu-
larity at certain hours of the night. He was, in consequence,
induced to believe that they mhabited particular zones, as
it were, or different depths of ocean, and that they occupied
as many different periods of time in making their way to
the surface. When the nights were calm, especially in tro-
pical regions, the surface of the ocean was darkened with
swarms of these active creatures, but when day broke, not
one was to be seen. They vanished with the first gleam of
light on the horizon, like those tiny people

“Whose midnight revels,
By a forest side or fountain, some belated peasant sees,
Or dreams he sees, while overhead the moon sits arbitress,
And nearer to the earth wheels her pale course.”

The depth of the Pteropod’s descent is said to be governed
by the intensity of light upon the surface of the water;
they are “spirits of twilight,” as Mr. Reeve has poetically
expressed it, “whose downward flight is measured by the
opacity of their native element.”

24.0 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

These mollusks are conjectured to exist in greater or less
abundance in all pelagic waters, and, like the Carimaria,
they generally swim in company. It is unusual to see them
during the day, or in stormy weather, as they delight in
calm seas and the stillness of the evening twilight.

With regard to their distinctive features of organization,
they are intermediate between the Cephalopoda and Gaste-
vopoda: the foot of the former, being modified into a kind of
swimming fin, offers a transition as it were to the locomotive
tentacula of the others. Their structure is somewhat gela-
tinous and soft, and their hinder parts are enclosed within a
glassy shell; their heads are rather indistinct, and almost
or altogether destitute of eyes, but their mantles are large
and thin, and capable of great dilatation and contraction,
Their mouths are most curiously constructed, being subter-
minal, and provided on either side with one or more mem-
branaceous wing-like swimming fins; their breathing organs
are pectinated and internal, similar to those of the Gastro-
pods, but in some species so exceedingly minute, as scarcely
to be discerned by even a strong magnifying power. They
are not all provided with shells, but when these occur, they
are either globose or cylindrical, and for the most part
partially or altogether enveloped by the mantle; in some

Plate aie

Wing ;lith.

Reeve & Nichols imp.

PTEROPODA. Q4]

few instances the shell becomes modified into a kind of
gelatinous cartilagmous mtegument.

Pteropoda are separated into two separate families by
De Blainville, namely Gymnosomata and Thecosomata, naked
and conchiferous. As, however, the latter only pertains to
the science of shells, they are now divided at once into six
genera, as follows :—Hyalea, Cleodora, Spiratella, Creseis,
Cuvieria, Cymbulia.

The habits of these singular mollusks have been already
noticed; and as regards that interesting species the Hyalea,
Professor Scouler speaks of having met with it on a mass of
floating algee which he captured when at sea. He often
amused himself with observing the agility with which the
active little being climbed up the branches by means of a
grooved foot, and that frequently with his back undermost,
resembling in this respect the sloth, which mhabits the vast
forests of South America, and whose natural history has
been only of late understood.

As regards the shell of the Pteropods, we may briefly
mention, that similarity, and yet diversity, is conspicuous in
each. The shell of the Z/ya/ea is globose and reddish-
brown on the uppermost part; that of the C/eodora is tri-
angular, thinner, and consequently more brittle and trans-

R

24.2 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

parent. The little glass shell which pertains to the Lima-
cina may be described as hyaline, spiral, obliquely discoid,
with a membranaceous lamellar keel, having a large and
entire aperture, and being slightly inflated on each side.
The genus Creseis displays a conically-formed shell, of a
pale rose-colour ; Cuvieria, a thin, white, cylindrical, globular
or hemispherical one, of which the posterior end is rounded,
obtuse, and truncated, the anterior depressed and open,
with a transverse and slightly oblique aperture; Cymdudia,
a larger and more intricately constructed shell, partially
changed into a kind of gelatinous crystalline integument of
an oblong, slipper-like shape, truncated posteriorly, open
anteriorly, with a nearly lateral aperture.

Such are the elegant and singularly varied boats in
which these interesting mollusks sail at eventide, on the
calm still surface of the deep, when day has faded into twi-
light, and stars begin to twinkle im the immensity of space.
Imagine a fleet of such meek creatures, resting quietly on
the scarcely heaving billows, while as yet the setting sun
throws a golden gleam athwart them, and each small boat
reflects the parting radiance. Think of them, when mid-
night settles on the deep, alone, unfearing, although im-
mensity is over them and beneath them, and the heavens at

PTEROPODA. 243

one moment look as if on fire from tropical coruscations, at
another, reveal innumerable stars, which are reflected in the
water, and gleam like quenchless flames in the depth of the
ocean. Still the creatures float on, each im her fairy-
formed vessel, delighting, it may be, in the grandeur and
the beauty of the lone wide sea and the glorious pomp of
midnight.—

For who, in truth, may guess or tell,
What thoughts those tiny bosoms swell ?

ae
ww

244:

CHAPTER VIII.

Crass IV. LAMELLIBRANCHIATA.

Such creatures earth owns not, nor yet the heavens,
Where birds fly swiftly, carolling their songs,

And insects hum, uprising from their haunts

In groves or meadows.

Wuar think you of a class of mollusks, headless, in many
instances incapable of motion, and often blind; living
buried in the sand or crevices of rocks, and occasionally
attaching themselves to marine substances by silken fila-
ments, yet susceptible of happiness, and subserving im-
portant purposes in the economy of nature ?

Such are the Lamellibranchiata (from lamella, diminutive
of damina, a thin plate, and dranchia, gills), the fourth class
into which the subkingdom Mollusca is divided, an exten-
sive tribe whose mantle is formed into two lobes, each of
which produces a separate piece of shell, connected by a

BIVALVES. 945

horny ligament. Their name aptly expresses the character
of the breathing organs, which are in general large, vas-
cular, and crescent-shaped, placed on either side between
the body and the mantle. A perfect system of circulation
is performed by means of a small heart composed of a
single ventricle, and the lobes of the mantle are fringed
round the edge with numerous tentacular filaments, very
sensitive and uritable to the touch, and which, being in
constant activity, draw a current of water for the ready
capturing of their prey.

The Lamellibranchiata form a shell composed of two
valves joimed together by a horny ligament, with mostly
a rather complicated hinge. They include two orders—
Unimusculosa and Bimusculosa.

In the first, the points of muscular attachment are always
more or less discernible on the internal surface of the shell ;
the animal is often affixed by a byssus, or beard.

The first order is divided into five families, as follows :—
Ostracea, Pectinacea, Aviculacea, Mytilacea, and Tridac-
nacea,—better known as Oysters, Mussels, Clams, &c.

24.6 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

Family I. Ostracza.

Methinks the spirit of peace doth seem to brood
Among the rocks and on the sounding shore ;
While, sweeping onward from the wondrous deep,
The billows come and go, in ceaseless play,
Spreading upon the sands those rich deposits
Of shells, and sea-weeds, corals, corallines,
Borne up, perchance, from many fathoms deep
In the vast world of waters, moving ever

With congregated roar, or solemn rushing
Upon the sea-sand, stilling all vain fancies,
Filling the calm and listening ear of thought
With serious words.

The Ostracea are somewhat allied to the Pectimacea, but
differ in many essential peculiarities ; and the passing out
of a bony tendon through an orifice in the shell in two of
the genera, is a new and peculiar feature.

Shells of the Ostracea may be described as being at-
tached, irregular, either foliated or laminar, and rarely
auriculated ; they are moreover thin, sometimes quite trans-
lucent, and one valve is always larger than the other. The
ligament is either internal or semi-internal.

Ostracea are divided into four genera—Ostrea, Placuna,
Placunanomia, and Anomia.

The shell of Ostrea is attached, inequivalve, and irregular,

OYSTERS. 247

umboes unequal, somewhat divaricating and receding from
each other, as the area between them becomes enlarged by
the increase of the shell; the valves are fibro-laminar, and
sometimes foliated; the lower valve, which is uniformly
larger, is concave; and the upper, or smaller valve, is gene-
rally flattish. Hinge destitute of teeth, and the ligament
is either internal or semi-internal, attached to the umbonal
area. ‘The muscular impression is situated near the centre,
and the mark of a minute accessory cartilage has been
noticed beneath the hinge, analogous to the Pinna.
Oysters, in old times, were spoken of as occupying in the
scale of nature a degree the most remote from perfection :
they were described as being destitute of progressive mo-
tion, without art or industry, leading a vegetable life, in
perpetual imprisonment, though opening their shells daily
to admit the element needful for their preservation. But
the light of science and natural history, shining even into
the dark cells of the peaceful Oysters, has made known many
interesting particulars relative to their natural history.
True it is that the mollusks of which we speak are appa-
rently some of the most insignificant of created beings, nay,
they appear little more than gelatinous substances; and yet
these feeble creatures are conscious of their existence, and

248 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

conscious also that something exists exterior to themselves.
They choose, reject, and vary their operations with judg-
ment, defend themselves by adequate and complicated
means, repair their losses, and occasionally assume new
habits. They possess, when young, the faculty of swimming
by means of a simple yet admirable development of their
powers; but, when arrived at full growth, this faculty or
inclination ceases, and while some of their active relatives
are darting round them, they remain contentedly in their
places of abode, surrounded by a numerous and continually
increasing progeny. When, however, they incline to move,
they contrive to bolster themselves up on one side, till they
stand nearly upright; and then, availing themselves of the
flowing or ebbing of the tide, they open their shells and are
tossed over by the pressure of the water. In this respect
they differ materially from many of their brethren.

The common Oyster is too well known to render descrip-
tion necessary. Britain was celebrated for this species as
far back as the time of Juvenal, who, satirizing Montanus,
a noted epicure, says of him—

** He, whether Circe’s rock his oysters bore,

Or Lucrine’s lake, or distant Richborough’s shore,
Knew at first taste.”

OYSTER-BEDS. 249

Sergius Orator, according to the testimony of Pennant,
was the first inventor of Oyster-beds, as early as the days of
Licinius Crassus, the celebrated Roman orator, commended by
Cicero ; yet not for his own table, but because of the profit
which they yielded. His Lucrine Oysters returned him a
large income, for, says Pliny, the British Oysters were not
then known.

This country still retains her superiority, and most of the
coasts produce Oysters naturally ; in such places they are
obtained by dredging, and become considerable articles of
commerce. Iiven the shells, when calcined, are useful as
absorbents, and, in common with others, they prove ex-
cellent manure.

Beds are formed artificially ; and those near Colchester
have long been celebrated; there are also others near the
mouth of the Thames, which are held in great repute.
These beds are made by removing the spawn, which is
found adhering to stone or wood or to old oyster-shells,
and by throwing it into salt-water creeks, where the young,
when hatched, grow rapidly, and in two or three years
attain their full size.

In the neighbourhood of Colchester, however, a different
method is adopted. ‘The fishermen go out with their wives

250 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

and children carrying baskets, and in these they place great
quantities of small Oysters, which they gather among the
sand and pebbles, and which rarely exceed the size of six-
pence. ‘These are deposited in beds, accessible to the tide,
and remain unmolested till full grown; their flavour is said
to be improved for being sheltered from rough waves, and
a mixture of fresh water is occasionally introduced for the
same purpose.

An ancient custom still prevails in the neighbourhood of
London with reference to the Oyster season, for the origin
of which we have long sought in vain.

If you go out of your house on that memorable day when
the cry of Oysters is first heard in the great city, you are
presently surrounded by groups of children who run beside
you, holding Oyster-shells in their hands, and looking you
in the face with a most beseeching expression of counte-
nance. “ A halfpenny, ma’am, for the Oyster-grotto, if you
please!” they say. If by chance you are in haste, and tell
them so, they run much faster than you can walk ; if you
assure them that you have not any money, they will beg
you to search the corners of your bag or pocket, casting all
the time such bewitching glances from their clear, mirthful
eyes, that hard must the heart be, or ruefully empty the

OYSTER-GROTTO. Ok

purse, if the small boon is refused. “’Tis only once in
the year!” they all exclaim; and then one, a pretty little
girl, holds up her shell, and another, a tittle curly-headed
boy, pushes his before you, till you can no longer say nay
to their entreaties.

And then what unique grottoes reward your acquiescence !
I have seen four or five in an evening at a little distance
from one another, tastefully made of oyster-shells, lighted
from within, and adorned with such flowers as some kind-
hearted dame may be wheedled to give from her small
garden, when, perchance, one or two of her grandchildren
are among the petitioners. Many a smile and courtesy
acknowledge your kindness during the past day, and not
unfrequently a gentle voice reaches your ear, saying, “ Will
you please, ma’am, to stop to look at the grotto!”

Although the Oyster-shell exhibits little external beauty
or variety, and small difference subsists in general between
the members of this family, the O. folium, or Leaf Oyster,
is peculiar in its construction. The shell resembles a
withered leaf, which the wind has tossed at random on the
shore, and thus the defenceless occupant effectually eludes
the vigilance of birds of prey by a wonderful adaptation of
external structure to his feeble circumstances.

252 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

The Tree Oyster, on the contrary, attaches himself to the
roots and branches of mangroves, as a place of refuge and
security. Some persons affect to treat this statement as
one of uncertain origin, but the solution is by no means
difficult. In hot countries a great variety of shrubs and
trees grow on river-banks, and even along the shore, espe-
cially in such places as are screened from the agitation of
the waves. The sheltered recesses of bays and harbours
are, therefore, often filled with abundance of lofty man-
groves, which grow up from the shallow bottom, and pre-
sent the beautiful appearance of marine forests. Wherever
they appear on the sea-shore, the beach is not only covered
with an infinite number of different insects—feeble beings
which love the shade,—but also with mollusks, that hasten
to shelter themselves from the violence of the waves, amid
the scaffolding of thick and intertwining roots, which rise like
lattice-work above the surface of the water, or the branches
that dip into it. And to these the parasitic Oysters attach
themselves in such numbers, that a loaded branch, when cut
off, is too heavy-for one person to carry. The loaded branch
is then washed, and brought to table, where it forms a
favourite appendage at the banquets of the rich; for the
glowing tints which are so liberally imparted to the birds

PLACUNA. 955

and flowers of tropical regions, extend occasionally to the
unassuming Oyster. Many of the species are beautifully
shaded, and the shells of such as inhabit the Red Sea are
frequently varied with the vivid colours of the rainbow.

The next genus, Placuna, is easily recognized by the
thinness and flatness of the valves, and peculiar construction
of the hinge, which consists of two distinct ribs or ridges,
on one valve only, diverging upwards; and to the outer
edge of these is affixed the hgament.

Specimens of Placunanomia were found attached to dead
bivalve shells and corals, at the depth of eleven fathoms, in
the Gulf of Dulce, province of Costa Rica, Central America,
by Mr. Cuming, who had spent many years in diving and
dredging for this remarkable genus, which, as the name
denotes, is intermediate between the Placuna and Anomia.
Like the former, the hinge consists of two divaricate ribs,
bearmg the ligament; and, like the latter, there is an
opening in the lower valve for the passage of a bony tendon,
by which the mollusk attaches himself to his watery location.
This tendon, however, is rather a singular modification
of that which pertains to the dnomia: instead of directly
perforating the lower valve, it is first mtroduced, like a flat
plate, between the lamin of which the valve is composed,

254 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

and then passes out for the express purpose of attaching
itself, through a narrow longitudinal fissure ; it is moreover
confined within the aperture,—not free, as im Anomia.

Anomie@ live also attached to rocks and marine sub-
stances by the aid of a muscular tendon passing through a
distinct orifice in the shell. This adhesive tendon secretes
a series of thin subcalcareous plates on the surface to which
it is affixed; and when these become amalgamated and
hardened, they form what has been called the stopper.

Shells of this adhering species assume the shape of
whatever substance they come in contact with. If found on
a flat surface, they are well and regularly formed ; if, on the
contrary, upon the radiated valves of a Pecten, they are
ribbed accordingly ; and if confined between the spines of
an Echinus, they become compressed. This may probably
arise from the fact of the Anomie beg without an organ of
locomotion : they never move from their places of abode, but
live and die, like people of the olden time, wherever their lot
is cast.

And yet, though tenaciously adhering to their stationary
or floating homes, these contented creatures see not a little
of the watery world: they are widely diffused throughout
the European, American, and African oceans, as well as in

ANOMIA. 255

the Mediterranean and Northern seas. Their shells are
generally thin and semitransparent,—peculiarities rarely
discoverable in‘such as inhabit the wide ocean,—and they
evince in their construction both an inconvenience and a
compensation. But i order to remedy this peculiarity, or to
prevent such fragile shells from being injured by the violent
tossings of the waves, a small perforation is obvious near
the beak, and through this a strong ligament, as already
noticed, is protruded, whereby the little sailor securely fixes
himself to marine substances, such as fuci and crabs, the
spines of Hehini, and especially to the Madrepora prolifera.

The shells are various, and many of them are singularly
beautiful. ‘The Snake-head, when seen in profile, resembles
an antique lamp, and the 4. psi¢tacea is very similar to the
recurved beak of a parrot, while the Cake Anomia is capable
of being rendered transparent by the ingenious Chinese,
who use it asa substitute for window-glass.

We have spoken elsewhere, and more at large, concerning
the prismatic arrangement of the carbonate of lime in shells.
The Anomia ephippium, when submitted to a high magnifier,
presents a beautiful example of this arrangement in a variety
of tubes, which seem to commence from the inner surface of
the shell, and pass towards the exterior. The membranous

256 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

shell-substance which constitutes the internal layer is thus
traversed with fairy-formed and extremely minute tubes,
constituting an irregular net-work, which spreads out in a
plane parallel to the surface, at first scantily distributed in
the internal nacreous lamina, but becoming abundant in the
yellow outer layer.

We have already observed that the tendon of adhesion
secretes through its fibres a series of thin subcalcareous
plates ; it is moreover worthy of remark that the soft parts
are altered by external circumstances as regards their posi-
tion within the shell; the Anomia consequently avails
himself of whatever local benefits are within his reach.

Anomie are closely allied to the Placune; their shells
are of the same fibro-laminal composition as those of the
Ostracea, and are frequently somewhat distorted. No im-
portance is attached to the regularity or irregularity of their
valves, on account of their assuming the shape of any sub-
stance with which they come in contact.

«Byes, and No Hyes,” was the title of a pretty and in-
structive tale which we read in childhood’s days. Our
young friends will do well to obtain it for themselves, and
to profit by the lesson which it contains.

Much happiness is derived from seeing things as they

REFLECTIONS. Pay

really are, by closely observing the curious objects by which
we are surrounded, and by seeking to understand them.
When this disposition is encouraged, even a solitary walk,
on the most lonely shore, is fraught with interest. Every
coming wave deposits some weed or shell; the one serving,
perhaps, as a small sea-car for a tiny mollusk voyaging from
the deep; the other either is, or was, the home of a won-
drously constructed creature, having its own peculiar sources
of enjoyment, and appropriate instincts.

He who passes them by, as things of little worth, loses
an innocent and laudable source of pleasure, and perhaps
returns home discontented with his solitary walk; he, on
the contrary, whose eyes are open to the wonders of creation,
preserves the shell and sea-weed, and seeks to become ac-
quainted with their natural history. He may find, perchance,
in both, links that bind them to past ages and bring memo.
rable events to his recollection, or such developments of
creative goodness in the one or in the other, as may fill his
mind with thoughts of love and thankfulness.

258 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

Family II. Prormnacna.

I see, far in the unfathomable deep,

Strange creatures at their work,—most beauteous they ;
Blending the mason’s and the weaver’s skill,

And his who maketh ropes; though without hands,
Yet wondrously endowed, whereby to form

Their coral dwellings neath the raging main.

None, perhaps, among the ocean tribes are more beautiful
and interesting than the Pectinacea: the genera Pecten and
Spondylus especially exhibit a lively display of colours, and
are peculiarly interesting as respects their natural history.

A considerable range of characters prevail throughout the
family of Pectinacea ; m reference to which the author of
‘Conchologia Systematica’ has remarked, that in the genus
Pedum, for example, the animal attaches himself by a byssus,
which passes through a notch on one side of the hinge, and
the shell is moreover strongly characterized by a dorsal area,
formed by the valves as they advance in growth. In the
genus Pecten this area or disc entirely disappears, the byssus
is said to be very small, and the shell does not become
attached, except in a single instance. In the Plicatula and
Spondylus a change of character is obvious, in the strong
cardinal teeth, and a remarkable dorsal area or disc.

PEDUM. 259

The shell pertaining to this beautiful family of mollusks
is either free or attached by one valve: itis often inequivalve,
somewhat irregular, and generally auriculated at the base on
each side. ‘The ligament is either mternal or semi-internal,
inserted im a central pit or groove, and the animal is not
always provided with a byssus.

Five genera pertain to this family—Pedum, Lima, Pecten,
Plhicatula, and Spondylus.

The organization of the Pedwm is intermediate between
that of Avicula and Spondylus. Like the former it is pro-
vided with a strong tendinous byssus, exserted in the same
direction, and the shell, like that of the latter, no longer
exhibits a particular fibro-laminar structure, but forms a
solid umbonal area. Its habits, however, differ considerably
from both, as many of the family are found partially buried
in madrepores, or in crevices of their own boring.

The naturalist has much to learn respecting the uses and
relative construction of these singular mollusks. They dwell
beneath the waters, and he may look with prying eyes on
their retired abodes without discovering either their going
out or coming in, or yet the means by which they obtain
their food. ‘Thus much we know, however, that the world
of waters teems with delighted existence ; that tiny mollusks

S 2

260 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

are objects of no small interest to their parents; that those
who are of full age range amid coral groves, and beneath
clusters of beautiful sea-weeds, that heave and sparkle in
their watery growing-places; and that perchance many an
aged mollusk looks placidly from out his quiet cell on the
active movements of his younger brethren. It may be that,
as dumb people converse together with their fingers, and
ants communicate their hopes or fears by tapping one
another with their antennee, the creatures of which we speak
hold converse with their frends by the same means.

The shell of the Zima is uniformly white, covered with a
brown horny epidermis. ‘The valves are mostly disposed in
ribs, diverging in symmetrical order from the umboes to
the margin, and are generally more or less imbricated exter-
nally. It may further be described as longitudinal, nearly
equivalve, auriculated, and gaping on one side.

A beautiful coral nest is formed by the indwellmg mollusk
for his own residence. And why is this? Because he is
only partially protected by his elegantly-constructed shell, a
considerable portion, and that unquestionably the most
delicate and highly embellished, being left exposed. The
defenceless Jima is, therefore, endowed with multifarious
talents whereby to form his nest, and these he successfully

LIMA. 26]

employs. He collects small branches of white coral, and ar-
ranges them together with considerable taste and judgment ;
thus forming a kind of hermitage, pleasing to the eye,
though not efficient, because the first wild wave might
scatter it abroad. A need, therefore, exists for binding the
fragments of coral together, and this the little architect
readily effects by means of cordage, home-made, and for
which he is not indebted to any extraneous assistance. The
mention of cordage naturally brings to mind the manu-
facture of rope or twine, and the different hands that are
employed; but the little Zima rope-maker has no hands
to aid in effecting his purpose,—neither windlass has he, nor
pulley, nor materials such as men would use in the form-
ing of strong cables. And yet, though wanting in all these,
he sets to work, and spins firm threads, which he skilfully
entwines among the coral fragments till they are firmly
bound together. The exterior of his hermitage is rough,
and merely resembles a tuft of small-branched white coral,
which the waves have broken from their growing-place ; but
this does not signify, it 1s even advantageous to the occu-
pant, as serving to baffle the vigilance of his marine enemies.
The interior, on the contrary, is scrupulously neat, and well
finished ; every interstice is filled up with a kind of mortar,

262 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

over which a web-like tapestry is suspended. And thus,
while the cordage already mentioned is employed to bind
the materials together, and every rough point is rendered
exquisitely smooth, the whole is covered with web-like
hangings, after the manner in which the tapestry bee adorns
her cell, and renders it both warm and comfortable. The
architect is thus protected from injury, and the fringes
with which he is decorated cannot become entangled with
the projecting edges of the coral. All within this curious
dwelling is in consequence smooth and highly wrought :
though rugged without, it is internally beautiful, and con-
tains a joyous inhabitant. Concerning his domestic occu-
pations within the dwelling which he has so admirably
made, we cannot write; they are doubtless such as befit his
watery location, and may partly consist in repairing his
tapestry hangings when required, or in strengthening the
cords that bind his domicile together. An angler, too, is
he; his fringed appendages serve, it is conjectured, for
fishing-rods, to catch his prey. Those who look down
through clear calm waters that often cover his marine abode
may chance to see the fairy-looking Joma, swimming about
with great rapidity. Like his neighbour the Scallop, he
repeatedly opens his valves, and then, suddenly closing

LIMA. 263

them, expels the water which they contain, and is impelled
either onward or upward, according to his necessities or in-
clination, by a succession of jerks or jumps. While thus
progressing through the water the brilliant orange fringe-
work, which is altogether outside of his elegantly-constructed
fragile shell, resembles the tail of a comet; and perhaps,
among molluscous animals, whether as regards the shell
or its inhabitant, none are more pleasing to the eye than this
admirable little creature. Kings and great men, in ancient
times, caused their state-rooms to be covered with superb
and pictured hangings from the looms of Gobelin and of
Arras; and further back, in looking through the vista of
past ages, courtly dames are seen employed on the most
elaborate productions of the needle.

“Then queens their hours bestowed
In curious works. The whirling spindle glow’d
With crimson threads, while busy damsels cull
The snowy fleece, or twist the purpled wool.”—Homer.

But the Zama wrought in the earliest ages of the world ;
and thus elegantly has a modern writer spoken of the little
craftsman :—“ I doubt not that, from the time when Noah’s
ark rested on the mountain of Ararat, the forefathers of the

264 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

beautiful little Zémas constructed their coral cottages, and
lined them with well-wrought tapestry, im the peaceful bay
of Lamlash.”’

Pectens are very numerous, and may be divided into
groups or sections, according to the inequality of the ears
and valves. In some, both valves are flat ; im others, both
are convex; in others, again, one valve is flat, the other
convex.

They are commonly known by the name of Scallops,
but their original and most popular title is that of the
Combs; les Peignes of the French; Pectines of the Latin ;
and Kreves of the Greek. Their shells exhibit a most vivid
array of colours, and the upper valve is usually more beau-
tifully pamted than the lower; the umboes approximate
without the least indication of any disc or area, and in this
respect they differ from all others of their brethren.

Some few species are provided with a byssus, although
invariably small; and the Pecten pusio 1s generally found
attached to some marine substance by the lower valve.

Pectens are very generally diffused. They are met with
on the shores of almost every ocean. Pilgrims found them
on the shores of Palestine, and placed them in their hats,
as tokens that they had crossed the sea on their way to

SCALLOPS. 265

the Holy Land, or some distant object of devotion. Hence
they are still preserved in the armorial bearings of several
distinguished families.

The species journey occasionally to considerable dis-
tances from their native element, and are not unfre-
quently deserted by the tide. How, then, it may be
asked, is it possible for the creatures to return? That
Being who denies to this gradation of His works those
facilities for locomotion which He assigns to almost every
other, has not left them without a substitute. They ex-
pand their valves, and then close them with a sudden jerk ;
an impulse is thus given which enables them to move to
the distance of four or five inches, and by a continual repe-
tition of this simple act, Scallops gradually progress till
they reach the water. Nor is this all. They are some-
times exposed to the rude tossings of the waves, and their
small vessels are consequently liable to be broken against
the rocks: but to obviate the possibility of such a disas-
ter, those which pertain to rough seas are endowed with
the faculty of spinning threads, as above noticed, by
means of which they attach themselves to large marine
pebbles, rocks, or pieces of timber, and are often found

266 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

safely moored in places upon which they have been hurried,
like shipwrecked mariners, by the fury of a tempest.

Nothing, then, is wanting to this feeble creature: the
same Almighty Creator who hurls the tempest, provides for
its security amid the fury of the storm. And yet, this is
but a single member of a numerous family, and the family
itself but a small colony of the myriads of shell-fish that
extend from the Line to the Frozen Ocean.

When reflecting on those tribes which, like insects, un-
dergo a series of transformations, we are accustomed to
associate in our minds the idea of the greatest locomotive
power with the most mature and perfect condition of each.
But such is not the case, and Mr. Forbes has recently shown
that many kinds of Testacea, and among these especially
the Pectens, possess, when young, the means of swimming
from one region to another, which are denied them when
they attain their full development.

The curious instincts of these interesting shell-fish most
probably suggested the poetic chariots of the sea-gods, who
were fabled to ride triumphantly in shells drawn by Tritons.
Such was the car of Neptune, as we find in Virgil, and on
a medal of Claudius :

SPONDYLUS. 267

“ High on the waves his azure car he guides ;
Its axles thunder, and the sea subsides.
The monster whales before their master play,
And choirs of Tritons crowd the watery way :
The martial powers in equal troops divide
To right and left ; the gods his better side
Enclose; and, on the worst, the nymphs and nereids ride.”

How sterile is the imagination of the poet when com-
pared with the infinite variety of creation! The loftiest
inspirations of his muse are frequently suggested by the
humblest of created beings; and from this inexhaustible
source the ancients derived their most poetic illustrations.
Shells are also represented on modern coins: among some
of the most curious is one with a bust of Sebastian, king
of Portugal, and a kind of bivalve shell floating on the
ocean.

The Spondylus plicatus of Linneus was selected by La-
marck as a type for the formation of the genus Plicatula,
in consequence of the shell exhibiting certain characters
intermediate between those of the genera Pecten and Spon-
dylus. Like the former, it has neither basal area nor disc ;
like the latter, it becomes attached by the lower valve, and
the hinge is furnished with teeth.

Aristotle and Galen were equally delighted with the

268 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

beauty of the Spondylus, or Thorny Oyster. The shell of
this interesting genus is thicker and of more irregular
growth than that of Pecten; it is uniformly attached by
one or both valves, and a marked change is perceptible
in the hinge, which is provided with strong teeth, and a
solid umbonal area.

The animal inhabitant apparently possesses abundance of
calcareous matter, for as the shell advances in growth, the
valves are composed of several distinct plates, deposited one
upon the other in progressive order. In the Spondylus
varius this laminar structure is very remarkable; the
plates are so irregularly secreted as to admit water, which
becomes stationary by the sealing up of the last plate. The
transparent Water Spondyls are therefore highly estimated.

The shell of the Syondylus is attached, imequivalve,
somewhat irregular, and more or less auriculated. The
outer surface is rarely smooth, and beautiful are the va-
rieties of external development whether of spines or folia-
tions; the colours, also, are exceedingly bright.and vivid.

While comparing this gracefully-decorated shell with
others of equal vividness, whether in cabinets, or placed by
the waves within our reach, we shall have occasion to
observe that the coverings of different mollusks bear not

AVICULACE. 269

only an obvious reference to their necessities, but are often
extremely beautified ; and that the latter, mdependent of
the former consideration, or, indeed, of any other with
which we are acquainted, is evidently designed by their
Creator to embellish the dwelling-place of man.

Thoughts suggested by the sublimity or minuteness of
creation ‘should expand our theology,” as Dr. Chalmers
well observed, “and lead us to contemplate our Heavenly
Father m the wonders and works of creation, as well as
in the economy of grace. Let us participate with the
Psalmist in admiring the beauties and characteristics of the
grand visible panorama around us, consisting of the earth
in the fulness of its riches, and of the sea with a zoology
of its own.”

Family IIT. Avicunacna.

It may not be
That aught more perfect than the globe of light
Is found on earth, nor yet beneath the waters.

The shell of the family Avzculacea may be described as
irregular, thin, fibro-laminal, and sometimes foliated on the

outside. The hinge is edentulate, having a strong liga-
ment inserted in one or more variously-shaped pits, and the

270 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

muscular impression is sometimes compound. The mollusk
fixes himself with a byssus, which passes out through a
notch in the hinge or front margin.

The Aviculacea are divided into five genera—Crenatula,
Perna, Malleus, Vulsella, and Avicula.

Several species belong to the genus Crenatula, but only
one appears to have excited the attention of early naturalists.

The genus Perna possesses a byssus, and is remarkable
for a peculiarity of structure which the shell exhibits in the
hinge. The hinge consists of a broad flat surface in each
valve, cut across by a parallel series of grooves, in each of
which, as in the hollow concavities in the shell of Crenatula,
is inserted a separate portion of the hgament. But the
ridges which are left by the cutting of the grooves do not
interlock, but shut flat upon each other, the hgament occu-
pying the interstices. Perna is very prolific, and is found
in considerable clusters.

Concerning the Vulsella no particulars of interest are
recorded ; the shell is of the same thin, fibro-laminal compo-
sition as those of its brethren, but the animal remains un-
known. Neither has it yet been ascertained whether a
byssus pertains to the genus; most probably not, because
Vulselle ave generally found in sponges.

MALLEUS. pati:

The JMalleus resembles a hammer im one species, and
the name was selected on account of the lateral lobes at the
base of the shell giving it the appearance of an inverted
hammer. This, however, only refers to the type of the genus.

A peculiar wing-shaped shell, in the typical species of
Avicula, attracted the attention of naturalists, long previous
to the time of Linneeus; that naturalist, however, included
the Mytita with them.

The Avicula margaritifera is celebrated for the true oriental
pearl, the Margaron, or globe of light, from which, and the
Persian name Mervarid, which means the offspring of light,
was derived Margarite, its appellation in southern Europe.

Pliny, and after him Solinus, struck with the similarity of
the pearl to a drop of dew, and unable to account satisfactorily
for its formation, imagined that the pearl-oyster rose every
morning to the surface of the water, and expanded his shell
to imbibe the dew of heaven, which assumed the texture,
shape, and colour of areal pearl. This elegant hypothesis
was probably suggested by the various transformations
observable in nature,—such as the conversion of the nec-
tareous juice of flowers into wax and honey.

Wild and extravagant opinions were advanced to account
for the formation of the pearl by different European natu-

272 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

ralists, till the year 1717, when M. Réaumur, in a curious
paper which appeared in the Memoirs of the French
Academy, on the structure of both shells and pearls, con-
jectured with great probability (and his notions are now
generally admitted), that pearls are formed of a juice extra-
vasated out of some ruptured vessels, and detained, and
fixed, among the membranes of the mollusk.

To evince the probability of this ingenious supposition,
he shows that oceanic and river shells are formed wholly of
a glutinous and stony matter, which oozes from the body
of the inhabiting mollusk, and that, consequently, an
animal furnished with vessels fraught with a sufficient
quantity of stony juice to build, thicken, and extend a shell,
is fully capable of forming pearl, if the Juices designed for
the increase of its habitation should chance to overflow
among the membranes, or to fill up any accidental cavity in
the animal himself.

In proof of which, he has further shown, that when
pearls of two colours are discovered in the pearl-mussel
of Provence, the tints of each are precisely the same
with those of the shell, and that each kind of coloured
pearl is found in the corresponding coloured part of the
shell; thus clearly evincing that where the transpiration

PEARLS. 273

of a certain juice had formed, and would have continued
to form, a coat or layer of peculiar tint, the vessel
that conveyed the juice had ruptured and occasioned a
small deposit, which, gradually becoming hard, retained
the colour of the shell. Of this the structure of the pearl,
and the shell itself, is a convincing proof; for the silver- or
pearl-coloured part of the Pearl Mussel is formed of strata
lying one upon another; and the reddish portion, of a
multitude of small, short, close, cylindrical fibres; which
peculiarity of texture is also discoverable in the different-
coloured pearls of the Mussels of Provence.

The intrusion of some heterogeneous substance, such as
particles of sand, into the stomach of the animal, frequently
produces these curious extravasations. M. Réaumur ele-
gantly terms them the nuclei, or primary causes, of the for-
mation of each valuable gem; as the sagacious animals
cover them from time to time with exudations of pearly
matter, in order to obviate the disagreeable friction which
they necessarily occasion ; and these exudations, as already
noticed, form several regular lamelle, resembling different
strata of bezoars, though considerably thinner, and more
delicate in their construction. Loose pearls are often found
within the shelly covering of the Mytilus: when this is the

ue

274: INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

case, they have been undoubtedly rejected from the stomach
of the animal, and have fallen into the cavity of the shell;
whilst such as are fixed, most probably owe their origin to
some internal roughness.

The observation of this curious fact most probably sug-
gested the first idea of forcing the Avecula to produce pearls.
It was known in the first centuries of the Christian era, and
acted on by the ancient people who inhabited the coasts of
the Red Sea, as we are informed by the philosopher Apollo-
nius. ‘The Indians,” said he, “dived into the sea after
they had rendered it calm, and perhaps clearer, by the
pouring in of oil; they then mduced the Mussels, by means
of some attractive baits, to expand their shells, and having
pricked them with a sharp-pointed instrument, the liquor
which exuded from the wound was received into a perforated
iron, where it hardened gradually, and formed pearls of the
finest water.” |

Modern naturalists are undecided with regard to the
accuracy of this narration; yet there are various reasons
to conclude, that the people who lived on the shores of the
Red Sea were acquainted with an artificial mode of pro-
ducing pearls; and this opinion is additionally confirmed
by the method now in use among the modern Chinese, who

PEARLS. W5

retain, with few alterations, the arts and customs of their
ancestors. Pearl Mussels, at certain seasons of the year, con-
gregate in considerable numbers on the surface of the water,
where they open their shells, and enjoy the influence of the
sun. At this period the Chinese fishermen throw into each
of them a small string of beads, formed of mother-of-pearl,
which, becoming coated in the course of a few months,
present the appearance of real pearls. No sooner is this
curious process supposed to be completed, than the Mussels
are drawn up, and robbed of the treasures which they
contain. The truth of this extraordinary statement is con-
firmed by the evidence of respectable travellers, and the
result of various experiments; to which Professor Fabricius
adds the testimony of having seen, in the possession of Sir
Joseph Banks, several Chinese Chame, in the shells of
which were contained bits of iron wire, covered with a sub-
stance of a pearly nature. These wires had evidently once
been sharp, and it seemed as if the mollusks, anxious to
secure themselves against the intrusion of such unwelcome
visitors, had encrusted, and thus rendered blunt, the points
with which they came in contact. May not, therefore,
the process employed in past ages be still practised? And
are we not authorized in conjecturing that these bits of iron,
T 2

276 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

which probably had slipped from the hands of the Chinese
workmen, and remained in the animals, resembled the spikes
noticed by Philostratus as being used by the ancient people
who inhabited the banks of the Red Sea, for the purpose of
pricking Mussels P

The appellation of MWargion, or globe of light, by which
the orientals designate their favourite gem, is elegantly
expressive of its peculiar form and lustre. When its contour
resembles a pear, itis less valuable; it is then generally used
for ear-rings, and ornaments of a similar description; and
the natives of the Hast, like the ancient Romans, prefer it
to any kind of precious stone. ‘The finest are reserved for
personal decoration, while those of an inferior description
are seen to enrich the trappings of their horses.

The pearl is the most perfect and beautiful of jewels.
Every other owes something to the hand of man, but this
emerges in full beauty from its ocean bed, where maternal
Nature has silently and secretly performed her work, and
given to this, her loveliest production, a lustre and per-
fectness which her sister Art has frequently sought to emu-
late, but can never equal. a,

Some historians have maintained that the aborigines of
South America were unacquainted with this valuable gem,

PEARLS. ht

but this opimion is incorrect. The Spaniards who first
landed in Terra Firma, Mexico, and Peru, assert that the
natives were adorned with necklaces and bracelets of the
finest pearls ; and this assertion, supported by the narratives
of modern as well as the details of early writers, receives
additional confirmation from the discovery at Basalt of the
statue of a Mexican priestess, whose head-dress is profusely
ornamented with gems of this kind. To which we may add
the testimonies of Las Casas and Belzoni, who describe the
the cruelties that were exercised on the Indian slaves and
negroes employed in the fisheries; and that even as far
back as the commencement of the reign of Ferdinand
and Isabella the beautiful little palm-encircled island of
Loche alone furnished pearls to the value of fifteen hundred
marks each month. During this period the trade was so
considerable that, till the year 1630, the value of these gems
exported into Hurope amounted on an average to eighteen
hundred thousand piastres.

The pearls of Asia were introduced into Europe by two
opposite channels—that of Constantinople, where the Pa-
leologi wore garments covered with strings of pearls, and
that of Grenada, the residence of the Moorish kings, who
strove to emulate the splendour of the oriental caliphs.

278 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

They were preferred to those of South America, and were
generally monopolized by the great, but stilla vast demand
existed for the latter, while the exportation of the former
scarcely experienced the shghtest diminution ; and hence in
Italy, as well as at Grenada, the island of Cubaqua became
the object of numerous commercial speculations : — that
especially of Lampagnano, an unfortunate Castilian, who,
having obtained permission from Charles V. to fish for
pearls along the coast of Cumana, was proceeding to exert
his prerogative, when the colonists sent him back with this
bold answer :—‘The Emperor, too liberal of what is not
his own, has no right to dispose of the oysters which live at
the bottom of the sea.” ‘The ill-fated adventurer, finding
himself unable to repay the merchants of Seville who had
advanced money for his voyage, remained five years at
Cubaqua, where he at length died msane.

The pearl-fishery of Cubaqua diminished rapidly towards
the end of the sixteenth, and, according to the testimony of
Laet, it ceased entirely about the end of the seventeenth
century. Two powerfully operating causes combined in
producing this effect. A Venetian discovered the art of
imitating pearls, so as to deceive the most accurate ob-
servers ; and the use of cut diamonds, introduced by Lewis

PEARLS. 279

de Bergner, lessened the demand for pearls from the West,
and rendered the South American fisheries less lucrative.
At present the pearl-fisheries of South America are prin-
cipally confined to the Gulf of Panama and the mouth of the
Rio de la Plata, to the coasts which surround Cubaqua, to
he vicinity of Araga and Coche, and to the island of Mar-
garetta. But these are less productive than they were for-
merly; the pearls, also, which they produce are not so fine

as those found on the first arrival of the Spaniards ;—a fact

which has exercised the ingenuity of several distinguished
naturalists; for who can explore the trackless basin of the
sea? Earthquakes may have altered its general character,
or subterraneous currents exercised some inexplicable in-
fluence on the temperature of the sea-water, or else destroyed
the mollusks on which the Mussels are supposed to feed.
When Humboldt visited the once-celebrated peninsula of
Araga, little remained of its population; he observed merely
a group of small dwellings, which clustered round the ruins
of an old castle, from whence the prospect partook of a
character rarely found in the warm regions of the globe.
Neither a deep and gloomy forest, nor the majesty of
vegetable forms, were seen to heighten the grandeur of the
ruins. They stood alone on the summit of a bare and

280 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

arid mountain, crowned with agave, columnar cactus, and
thorny mimosa, the ruins resembling less the work of man
than such bare and unclothed masses of primeval rock as
were ruptured in the earliest convulsions of the globe.

The scenes of early life entwine themselves, as with a
spell, around the heart. Thus the aborigines of Araga
prefer the wild and barren spot which gave them birth to
the attractions of more polished life, and support themselves
by catching fish, which is extremely abundant on the coast.
When asked why they have neither gardens nor culinary
vegetables—“ Our gardens,” they reply, “are beyond the
Gulf; when we carry our fish to Cumana, we bring back
plantains, cocoa-nuts, and cassava.”

One of these was a mulatto, the sage of the plain, who
professed to know the virtues of plants, the symptoms of
earthquakes, and the marks which distinguish the neigh-
bourhood of precious metals. When the traveller entered
his humble dwelling, he found him employed in sharpening
arrows, and stretching the strings of his bow. Delighted
with an opportunity of imparting his scanty store of know-
ledge, he readily communicated some interesting particulars
relative to the pearls of Cumana, which, as objects of deco-
ration, he treated with contempt; and, m order to evince

~

PEARLS. 981

his familiarity with the sacred writings, he frequently referred
to the patriarch Job, who preferred wisdom to pearls. After
a long discourse on the emptiness of human grandeur, he
drew from his leather pouch a few small opake gems, which
he desired Humboldt to accept, enjoining him at the same
time to note on his tablets that a poor shoemaker, of Cas-
tilian race, had gratuitously resigned, without a sigh, pearls
which, on the other side of the great waters, were anxiously

sought after.

How many sad and serious thoughts are blended
With thee, pure ocean gem, that comest up,

Within thy rugged car, from deepest waters.
Merchants of Tyre and Sidon, in past days,

Sought to possess thee. Ocean’s gem, thou purest
Of Nature’s works! what days of weary journeyings,
What sleepless nights, what toils o’er land and sea,
Are borne by men to gain thee!

The finest pearls are unquestionably not of occidental but
of oriental growth. From the earliest period of authentic
history the Indian seas and rivers were celebrated for their
production. ‘They are rich,” says a native writer, “ with
pearls and ambergris; their mountains are stored with gold
and precious stones; their gulfs inhabited by creatures
yielding ivory ; and among the plants and trees with which

282 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

their shores are shaded and adorned are ebony, red-wood,
aloes, cloves, and sandal, and all other spices and aromatics ;
parrots and peacocks are the birds of the forests; musk
and civet the productions of the land.” ‘To these exotic re-
gions we must therefore look for the finest pearls; they are
brought from the island of Bahrein, or Baharem, in the
Persian Gulf, from the fishery of Catisa, on the coast of
Arabia Felix, and from Ceylon and Japan.

The fishery established at Manaar, a seaport in the island
of Ceylon, is one of the most considerable. - It commences
in February, and ends about the beginning of April. During
this period Candatchy, about ten miles from Manaar, pre-
sents an interesting and novel spectacle. The bay is thronged
with vessels; the coast with an incredible multitude from
all parts of India, consisting of persons of different com-
plexions, countries, castes, and occupations. Here are to be
seen boat-owners running to the shore with anxious faces,
and looks of joy, in hopes of a rich cargo, stepping on the
rocks that project into the sea, and wading as far as they
can venture. There, groups of jewellers, brokers, merchants,
foreigners, and natives, variously employed; some bargain-
ing for pearls, others separating and sorting them; others,
with scales in their hands, weighing and ascertaining the

PEARLS. 283

value of each; others, agai, hawking them about; while a
considerable number occupy themselves in drilling and pre-
paring the pearls for future use.

Occasionally a few fantastic figures are seen to mingle
with the motley groups. These are conjurers, known in the
Malabar language by the appellation of Pillal Karras, or
binders of sharks. They are held in great veneration by the
eredulous natives, who firmly believe in their miraculous
pretensions. Hach boat 1s accordingly accompanied by one
or two of these impostors, who frequently carry off the rarest
specimens; whilst others take their stations on the shore,
where they spend the day in muttering prayers, distorting
their bodies, and performing unmeaning ceremonies.

Meanwhile the bay is thronged with vessels of various
descriptions. The boats employed in the fishery assemble
at the same period, and wait the signal for setting sail.
This signal is the firmg of a gun at Arippo, which is an-
swered by a loud huzza; each boatman then plies his oar,
the vessels sail out together, and reach the pearl bank,
twenty miles distant, before day-break. Here they con-
tinue busily occupied, till warned to retire by the sea-breeze,
which rises about noon. Again a signal gun is fired, and
the respective owners hail the arrival of their boats.

284 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

A number of people are now seen busily occupied in
depositing the pearl-shells m holes or pits, dug in the
ground to the depth of two or three feet; or on small
square places covered with mats and fenced round, where
they are suffered to remain till the inhabitant of each is
completely dried away: the pearls are then taken out and
prepared for the market.

Each boat is manned with twenty men, and a tindal, or
chief boatman, who acts as pilot. Of these, ten are em-
ployed in rowing, or in assisting the divers: the others go
down alternately, five at a time; and thus enable their
companions to recruit their strength, which is frequently
exhausted by the excessive fatigue of diving.

The business of a diver appears extraordinary and full of
danger to a Huropean; but to the Asiatic it affords a lucra-
tive and familiar occupation. His chief risk and terror
arises from the ground-shark; a common and terrible
inhabitant of the Eastern seas, and a source of perpetual
uneasiness to the adventurous Indian. It, however, rarely
happens that any lives are lost, for the real or imaginary
appearance of a shark immediately spreads dismay through-
out the whole fleet ; each diver then rapidly ascends, and
the boats return to Condatchy, whence they seldom ven-

PEARLS. 285

ture out during the day to recommence tlie business of
fishing.

In order to facilitate the descent of the divers, the boats
are separately furnished with five large perforated stones,
round at the top and bottom. These are fixed to different
ropes, and each diver, when about to plunge, seizes one of
them with the toes of his nght foot; and from the other
he suspends a bag of net-work ; for these people are so
extremely dexterous in the use of their feet, that they em-
ploy them, as well as their hands, for the most common
purposes, and sometimes pick up the smallest stones or
straws from off the ground. ‘The diver then takes hold of
another rope with his right hand; while with the left he
endeavours to prevent the water from entering his nostrils as
he plunges into the sea, and speedily reaches the bottom ;
where he eagerly commences tearing up the shells, and
cramming them into his bag, which he suspends round his
neck, and running from side to side, in order to render the
water turbid and elude the vigilance of his marine foes.

As soon as the bag is full, or the appearance of any
danger warns the divers to retreat, he resumes his former
position, makes a signal to those above, by pulling the
rope in his right hand, and immediately reascends.

286 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

The fatigue attendant on the act of diving is very great,
and the men employed in the Pearl-fishery not unfrequently
discharge blood from their ears and nostrils, on being
drawn into the boat. But this does not prevent them
from making forty or fifty plunges during the course of
the day: for persons accustomed to the water from their
infancy acquire a sort of amphibious nature, and appear to
retain the same self-possession, in this deceitful element,
as on land. Many other nations are equally remarkable
for this peculiarity; and according to the accounts of
several voyagers, the inhabitants of the South-Sea islands
are such expert divers, that when a nail, or any piece of
iron, is thrown overboard, they will instantly plunge into
the sea, and never fail to recover it, notwithstanding the
quick descent of the metal.

Each of the pearl-divers generally remains under water
about two minutes at a time, though instances have oc-
curred in which four, or even five minutes, have been de-
voted to this dangerous employment; and a diver from
Anjanga, in the year 1797, continued during the space of
six minutes.

Such is the general method of obtaining pearls; and
such are the dangers connected with this adventurous

PEARLS. 287

trade. Yet these costly gems have no pretensions to any
actual use, as their value arises merely from their rarity
and beauty, united to that general predilection for orna-
mental decorations which seems natural to mankind, both
in a savage and civilized state.

What bringest thou up from the briny deep,

Where hidden in caves the wild winds keep
Their ceaseless revelry ?

Thy hair is wet, and the dripping spray

Doth wrap thee around, as a mantle grey,
Mid the roar of the deep, deep sea.

A few rough shells are the simple store

Which thou flingest, all faint, on the sounding shore,
Small value, methinks, are they ;

Is thy life of no worth, or so small thy gain,

O Diver, that thus from the raging main
Thou bearest those shells away ?

Those shells have no worth in the unpractised eye,
But within them rich pearls in their beauty lie,
Choice gifts from the deep, deep sea ;—
Globes of light that are formed in each rough-coated shell,
Borne up from dark caves where the wild waters dwell,
They are pleading, O Stranger, with thee.

288 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

Family IV. Myrtinacea.

It is a pleasant sight
To look on creatures formed with wondrous skill ;
Perfect in all their parts; with instincts, too,
Of no mean order, by whose promptings they
Construct their beauteous homes, or moor their barks
To friendly rocks, or range from sea to sea.

The family Myti/acea have but little affinity with that of
Tridacnacea, except in being provided with a fully-developed
byssus, consisting of numerous filaments or silky threads,
by means of which the mollusk readily attaches himself to
rocks or other marine bodies; and with the assistance of a
most curiously-constructed foot he can fix or displace this
valuable appendage.

Shells of the Mytilacea may be described as being rather
of an elongate form, regular, equivalve, and generally smooth.
Teeth are wanting to the hinge, which consists merely of a
strong marginal ligament. The muscular impression is
compound, bearing the marks of one or more small acces-
sory cartilages, probably destined to assist the muscle in
counteracting the strong expanding power of the hinge
ligament.

MYTILUS. 289

Four genera pertain to the Mytilacea — Lithodomus,
Modiola, Mytilus, and Pinna.

The first two genera are both peculiar in their habits.
The first dwells in concealed cavities, among stones and
madrepores, where he excavates a dwelling, and has conse-
quently no occasion for a byssus or anchor; the second
~ resembles the M/ytidi in his habits, and his shell differs only
in the short obtuse termination of the anterior side.

Mytiti are strictly marine, and yet one or two species,
which have affixed themselves to vessels, and been carried in
consequence into canals or docks, have become localized in
fresh water.

Several species are included in the genus, and in these
what great variety! Some are smooth, beautifully marbled,
and variegated with delicate colours; others are elegantly
radiated with white and purple; others, again, consist of
only one colour, being either black or blue, green, or
brown, or yellow, coarsely mbbed, and grained with minute
tubercles. Some exhibit internally a pearly appearance ;
others, when uncoated from a shaggy epidermis, display
considerable brilliancy.

A recent traveller relates that a silvery kind of Mussel;
much in request among the Indians of North America,

U

290 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

and called by them the White Conch, principally constitutes
the breast-plate of their high priest. This breast-plate is
worn on the annual festival of the natives, when this “ great
beloved man,” as he is termed by his brethren, being clothed
in a white raiment of finely-dressed doe-skin, which resem-
bles the ephod of the Jews, enters the holiest division in
their place of worship, and offers the sacred fire as the yearly
atonement for the sins of his people.

A few years since, considerable-sized specimens of the
White Conch were discovered in ancient Indian tumuli, m
the neighbourhood of Cincinnati. They were most probably
drinking-cups, or small sacred vessels, used by the abori-
gines in connection with sacrificial rites, or in making
libations. Such specimens become of some importance
with reference to the Asiatic origin of the North American
Indians. Conchologists mention the shores of Asia, and
those of contiguous islands, as frequented by this interest-
ing species; its discovery, therefore, in one of the old
burying-places affords a presumptive proof of the long-
asserted migration of the present race of Indians from Asia.
Taken in connection with other evidence, it may, indeed, be
regarded as corroborative of that popular belief.

Shells of the Myti/us abound in the cabinets of the natu-

MYTILUS. 291

ralist, and serve to embellish the drawing-room and library.
Persons of taste admire their tintings and construction ; yet
the formation of the inhabitants is still more worthy of re-
gard than the exquisite variety of the floating citadels in
which they are enclosed. Those valves, which are frequently
so remarkable, close and open according to the necessity or
inclination of the occupant, and this is effected by means of
a fleshy protuberance of a reddish hue, divided into two
lobes, and answering the purpose of feet. When, therefore,
a Mussel is inclined to leave his station, the shell is gradually
opened by the help of this strange member, which, assuming
a new form, pushes forward, and makes a furrow in the sand,
into which the shell is drawn in a vertical position. From
this position he almost immediately changes into his former
horizontal one; the member shovelling back the sand, and
lengthening the furrow, while the animal journeys on his
way with a motion which causes a continual inversion of his
shell. Tracks, formed most probably by Mussels in quest
of food, may be readily observed on the sand, where these
creatures abound after the tide has run out: they resemble
small furrows, but are rarely straight; deviating into mazes
and triangles, like the course of a vessel when contending
with adverse winds.

292 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

Mussels, therefore, can open and shut their shells at
pleasure ; remove to some distance; fasten themselves to
the rocks with threads similar to those of the silkworm ;
respire water, like their finny neighbours; and even float
upon the surface of the billows.

Now from this we might suppose that the inhabitant was
at least provided with feet, in order to walk upon the sand,
or that he could swim at ease, in the wide ocean, by means
of such appendages as obviate in aquatic natures the neces-
sity of wings. But the Creator, who varies means with the
obstacles to be surmounted, has provided a peculiar and
appropriate mechanism, which answers the purpose equally
as well. The mollusk is fastened to the upper and lower
shells by two white flat cords of muscular substance, which
extend about two inches from the thick part of the body,
and gradually decrease in size; these are capable of bemg
contracted according to his inclination, either for the pur-
pose of closing the doors of his impregnable citadel, or of
throwing them open. Moreover, every part of this floating
pavilion is inlaid with a membrane or epidermis, which,
- after having been saturated with water, unites so closely as
not to admit the escape of a single drop.

Not less extraordinary is the creature’s position, which is

MYTILUS. 293

so arranged as not to be inconvenienced by the opening or
shutting of the shell. The mouth is singularly defended by
a kind of veil, with a double flap on each side, whence the
throat descends, like a thread, into the stomach, and close
to this appears a curved, brown, and pointed tongue, half
an inch in length; while, on the concave side, is placed a
furrow, which the Mussel enlarges or closes, and probably
uses in the conveyance of his food. The tongue is sup-
posed materially to assist his motions when changing his
abode in search of food, or when disturbed by an enemy ;
and in the middle of this member, as sentinels to direct its
movements, are two bluish spots, which seem to be the eyes.
Nor is this all. Another extraordinary contrivance is dis-
coverable. The tongue is provided with a beard, or byssus,
fastened by two fleshy roots, and consisting of one hundred
undivided parallel lines, an inch in length, of a dark-green
tint, having metallic lustre, and terminated by a circular
gland, resembling the stigma of many plants. But what, it
may be asked, can be the use of such a singular appendage ?
As the tongue compensates the want of feet, so the byssus an-
swers the purpose of innumerable hands. It enables the
Mussel to attach himself to rocks and corals, and to adhere
when young to the parental shell. It even answers the

294. INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

purpose of a line or hook, and is capable of being extended
or contracted, in order to entrap sea-insects or small fish.
There is still another admirable contrivance, which compen-
sates for certain deficiencies in the animal economy. The
Mytilus frequently buries himself in the sand, in order to
escape his marine enemies. How, then, is he supplied with
air and water, both of which are essential to his welfare? In
common with most of his burrowing kindred, he has breath-
ing tubes, which he projects through the sand, and thus
a communication is maintained with both those elements

** which equally sustain,
Like mighty pillars, the frail life of man.”

“Go to the ant, thou sluggard,” said Solomon; “ con-
sider her ways, and be wise.” Let the unbeliever in the
superintending providence of his Creator examine the struc-
ture of this insignificant creature, and he will be constrained
to acknowledge, unless blinded by prejudice, that moral
cataract of the human mind, the hand of Deity to be con-
spicuous even here. ,

The female of the common Mussel generally lays her
eggs in small cavities on the outside of her shell, to which
she attaches them by means of a glutinous substance; but
it is not certain that the numbers which are often seen ad-

MYTILUS. 295

hering were all deposited by the inhabitant, as this species,
like the cuckoo, frequently appropriates a neighbour’s shell
for the temporary reception of her offspring.

The migration of testaceous tribes is a subject of peculiar
interest. Some of the shell-bearing mollusca lay their eggs
ina sponge-like nidus, wherein the young remain enveloped
for a fixed period after their birth, and this buoyant sub-
stance floats like the weed of ocean. Others are affixed to
sea-weeds ; and others, light as the finest grains of sand,
ride on the billows, and become deposited wherever the
currents find their way. Serpule are often found adhering
to floating cocoa-nuts, and even fragments of pumice. Such
species of mollusks, on the contrary, as inhabit lakes
and rivers usually attach their eggs to leaves and sticks,
which, having fallen into the water, are liable to be swept
away from tributary waters to the main streams, and from
thence to every part of the same basins. Hence it happens
that certain species migrate during one season of the year
from the commencement of the Mississippi to countries
bordering the sea, at the distance of many thousand miles.

A considerable number attach themselves to the bottom
of ships, or nestle in holes, which the Zeredo, or ship-worm,
has perforated. By one such method the Mytilus polymor-

296 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

phus, previously known only in the Danube and Volga,
may have been brought to the commercial docks in the
Thames, and to Hamburgh, where the species is now
domiciled.

The shells of Crabs and Lobsters are often appropriated
to the same purpose by sagacious Mussels and their relatives
when about to migrate. A Lobster was taken alive ina
drag-net, of which the shell was covered with a colony of
Mussels; and within a recent period a large female Crab,
loaded with Oysters, and bearing also Anomia ephippium
and Actinee, was captured off the English coast. The
Oysters, seven in number, included individuals of six years’
growth, and the two largest were four inches long and
three-and-a-half broad. -Both the Crab and Oysters were
seen alive by Mr. Robert Brown ; in reference to which Mr.
Broderip observes, that ‘the crab, who was apparently in
perfect health, could not have cast her shell for six years ;
whereas some naturalists assert that the species moult an-—
nually, without limiting the moulting period to the early
stages of the creature’s growth.”

A right joyous party, doubtless, were those incongruous
voyagers, though of different forms and habits; a silent
company assuredly, for none among them could excite con-

MYTILUS. 297

tention with harsh words. We know not what an amount
of placid enjoyment might have been shared by each,
nor yet how they looked on the rippling waters of the
calm blue sea, slightly heaving and sparkling in the sun-
beams, and continually presenting them with plentiful sup-
plies of food. No need had they to lay in stores for a long
voyage, even if that voyage extended “ from sultry Indus to
the pole ;” the winds and waters ministered to their neces-
sities, as also to those of the living vessel which thus care-
fully conveyed them. But, alas! some merciless collector
saw the ship and freight making their way upon the deep,
and, no sooner seen than done, his hands, like those of
Scylla, were stretched forth to secure them as a lawful prize.
And thus, if not denied the gift of speech, might some hap-
less survivor speak concerning the insatiable avidity of his
unpitying grasp :—

“ He makes the huge leviathan his prey,
And all the monsters of the watery way ;
The swiftest shell-fish of the azure plain
Now fills her sails, and spreads her oars in vain.
Thus from some rock that overhangs the flood
The silent fisher casts the insidious food ;
With watchful care he waits the finny prize,
And sudden lifts it quivering to the skies.” — Odyssey.

298 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

We learn, however, from this example, the mode by
which the oyster may extend over every part of the ocean
where the crab wanders; and if she is at length cast by the
waves on some coast where, instead of sand and pebbles,
spreads out a deposit of fine mud, the foundation of an
oyster-bank may be readily laid. Mussels in like manner
are conveyed to far distant regions, where they furnish a
supply of food to different kinds of fish, marine birds, and
animals.

But are not the Mussels defended with a testaceous
coating? How, then, is it possible for a bird to open and
devour them? ‘These instinctive creatures pounce upon
their prey, when left uncovered by the efflux of the tide, ©
and mount with it to a considerable height; they then let
go their hold, the shell is broken by the violence of the
fall, and the inhabitant is easily extracted.

Monkeys also devour Mussels, as well as other shell-fish,
in considerable numbers. They watch the ebbing of the
sea, and whenever an unfortunate Mussel opens his shell
for the purpose of imbibing or rejecting water, a stone is
immediately slipped im, which prevents the valves from
closing, and renders him an easy prey to his sagacious
adversary. Birds, also, occasionally avail themselves of this

PINNA. 299

propensity in the Mussel to open his shell, but not always
with equal success. A crow, seeing one day an oyster with
his valves expanded on the beach, incautiously darted her
claw into the open shell, with the intention of dragging
forth the inmate; but the oyster, aware of her design, in-
stantly closed his doors, and in so doing took the thief
prisoner. A gentleman found them in this situation, and
made a double capture.

The genus Pinna is one of considerable interest, not
only on account of early poetic associations, but as re-
gards the new and peculiar structure of the shell, which,
instead of being solid and entirely coated with a firm nacre,
is composed of numerous perpendicular fibres, arranged
either in one laminal plate, or in several, one upon the other ;
the nacre itself is alone deposited in the central concavity
of each valve, the home of the indwelling mollusk. The
extended growth of the shell beyond the seat of animal ex-
istence, is elastic during the life of the occupant, but when
taken from the water and dried, it becomes hard and brittle.

At least twenty different species are included under this
division: and here it is not unworthy of remark, that,
however individuals may vary in size and colour, the usual
form of their testaceous coatings always resembles that

300 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

of the larger species of Mussels, being long and tapering
towards the opposite extremity. They are, also, gene-
rally brittle and horny, and are occasionally enriched
with a steel-like blue or copper-colour. Some peculi-
arity in the animal inhabitant uniformly furnishes a clue
to his mode of life. The construction of the Pinna
points out his adaptation to smooth waters and sheltered
bays; and, though generally found in the Mediterranean,
Indian, American, Atlantic, and Red Seas, they are seldom
seen on bold and rocky coasts, exposed to the furious
surgings of the tides. ‘The classic shores of the Mediter-
ranean are consequently amongst their favourite resorts ;
and hence the rocks near Cape St. Vido, where once
stood an abbey of Basilican monks, as well as the shores of
the Mare Grande, are completely studded with this in-
teresting shell-fish.—
“Thousands of spinning worms,

That in their green shops weave the smooth-hair’d silk

To deck her sons.”

They are elegantly termed silkworms of the ocean, in
allusion to the fine silky beard, or byssus, by means of
which they moor themselves firmly to the rocks, or else
allure small fish by the floating or trembling of the filaments

PINNA. 301

inthe water. This they possess in common with the Mussel.
But instead of a hundred undivided parallel and flattened
fibres, terminated by a circular gland, furnished with
absorbents, and growing from the body of the animal, we
have here a machine as incontestably mechanical as that of
a wire-drawer’s mill. The P2ana is provided with an ex-
tensile member like a finger, and this contains a glue,
which the animal protrudes at pleasure, by means of a variety
of minute perforations in the tip. This glue, or gum, as
in the instance of the common spider or the silkworm,
having passed through these apertures, becomes threads
of almost inperceptible fineness; and these, when joined,
compose the silk which is so much valued by the Sici-
hans. But the animal first attaches the extremity of the
thread, by means of its adhesive quality, to some crag
or pebble of unusual size; and when this is effected, the
Pinna, receding from that point, draws out the thread
through the perforation of the extensile member by a pro-
cess which Paley, im describing the similar operations of
the terrestrial silkworm, justly compares to the drawing
of wire. One difference alone exists. The wire is the
metal unaltered, except in figure; whereas, in the forming
of the thread, the nature of the substance is somewhat

302 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

changed, as well as the form; for, as it exists within the
worker, it is merely a soft and clammy glue, the thread
acquiring, most probably, its firmness and tenacity from
the action of the air upon its surface at the moment of
exposure. This property is, consequently, a part of the
contrivance.

The mechanism itself consists of the extensile member
which the animal propels at pleasure, of the reservoir in
which the glue is collected, and of the external holes com-
municating with it; while the action of the machine is
seen in forming the thread, analogous to that of making
wire, by forcing the prepared material through holes of
proper dimensions. The secretion is an act too subtile for
our discernment. But one thing answers to another—the
secretory glands to the quantity and consistence required
in the secreted substance, and the reservoir to its reception ;
while the outlets and orifices are constructed, not merely
for relieving the reservoir, but for manufacturing its con-
tents into a form and texture of great external use to the
life and functions of the Pina. Moreover the texture is not
only essential to the welfare of the inhabiting mollusk, it also
constitutes an important article of commerce among the
Sicilians ; for which purpose considerable numbers of Pinne

PINNA. 303

are annually fished up in the Mediterranean, from the depth
of twenty or thirty feet. An instrument called a cramp is
used for the purpose; it is a kind of iron fork, with per-
pendicular prongs, eight feet i length, each of them about
six inches apart, the length of the handle being in propor-.
tion to the depth of the water; for, notwithstanding the
extreme delicacy of the individual threads, they form such
a compact tuft, that considerable strength is necessary in
separating the shells from the rocks to which they adhere.
This tuft of silk, termed by the Sicilians /anapenna, is
then broken off, and sold to the countrywomen, who wash it
in soap and water. They then dry it in the shade, straighten
the threads with a large comb, cut off the useless root by
which it adhered to the animal, and card the remainder ; by
these means a pound of coarse filaments is reduced to about
three ounces of fine thread. This is fabricated into various
articles of wearmg apparel, such as stockings, caps, gloves,
and waistcoats. The web is of a beautiful yellow-brown,
resembling the burnished gold hue which adorns the backs
of some splendid flies and beetles. A considerable manu-
factory is established at Palermo; the fabrics are extremely
elegant, and vie in appearance with the finest silk. In the
year 1754 a pair of stockings were presented to Pope Bene-

304 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

dict X V., which, from their extreme fineness, were enclosed
in a small box, about the size of one for holding snuff. A
robe of this material.is mentioned by Procopius as the gift
of a Roman emperor to the satrap of Armenia.

It is even conjectured, by some writers, that the fine
byssus produced in India, Egypt, and about Elis, in Arabia,
was no other than the threads of this interesting shell-fish,
from which the richest apparel was anciently made, and
afterwards dyed purple, for the sacerdotal vestments of the
Jewish and Kgyptian priests.

The animal inhabitant of the Pimna marina is a blind
slug, surrounded with numerous enemies, and particularly
obnoxious to the Sepa, or Cuttle-fish, who watches the
motion of the Pzana, and no sooner does the latter open his
bivalve shell, which occasionally exceeds two feet in length,
than he rushes upon him like a lion. It will naturally
be asked, how such a blind, defenceless creature can either
procure food, or protect himself from the attack of his
implacable enemies? Nature uniformly redoubles her
exertions in favour of the weak; or rather, it may be said,
that the God of Nature offers, by this new and affecting
compensation, an additional reason for unreserved confi-
dence in Him. A kind of crab-fish, naked like the Hermit,

Plate XVe

‘W.Wing , bth.

PINNA. 305

and very quick-sighted, is the constant companion of the
Pinna marina. ‘They live and lodge together in the shell,
which belongs to the latter. When the Pzaua has occasion
to eat, he opens his valves, and sends out his faithful pur-
veyor to procure food. If any foe approaches, the watchful
Crab returns with the utmost speed and anxiety to his blind
protector, who, being thus warned of danger, shuts his
valves, and escapes the rage of the enemy; when, on the
contrary, the Crab loads himself with booty, he makes a
gentle noise at the opening of the shell, which is closed
during his absence, and when admitted the two friends feast
together on the fruits of his industry. This curious fact,
although well known to the ancients, escaped till lately the
observation of the moderns. Aristotle tells us that the Pinna
kept a guard to watch for him ; that there grew to the mouth
of the Pinna a small parasite, having claws, and serving as
a caterer, resembling a crab, and termed the Pinnophylaz.
In lke manner, Pliny mentions a singular animal called Pin-
notheres, which, he says, 1s lable to injury, and therefore
prudently hides himself in the shell of oysters. He also
speaks of the Prana as belonging to a genus of shell-fish,
produced in muddy water, and constantly attended by a
companion.
x

306 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

‘One room contains them, and the partners dwell!
Beneath the convex of one sloping shell ;
Deep in the watery vast the comrades rove,
And mutual interest binds their constant love :
That wiser friend the lucky juncture tells,
When in the circuit of his gaping shells
Fish wand’ring enter; then the bearded guide
Warns the dull mate, and pricks his tender side.
He knows the hint, nor at the treatment grieves,
But hugs the advantage, and the pain forgives :
His closing shell the Pzzza sudden joins,
And *twixt the pressing sides his prey confines ;
Thus fed by mutual aid, the friendly pair
Divide their gains, and in the plunder share.” — Oppzaz.

Modern discoveries have withdrawn this fact from among
the fables of ancient days; and it is curious to observe how,
in some cases, the study of nature gradually dispels the
consecrated delusions of ages, and reduces to the level of
ordinary facts what time had invested with all the characters
of the supernatural; in others the correctness of statements
hitherto considered fabulous, or highly embellished by poetic
fancy, are proved by modern naturalists.

Surely it is impossible to contemplate the history of the
Pinna without mingled emotions of surprise and pleasure.
The conchologist may view it merely with a reference to his
favourite pursuit ; but the Christian philosopher regards it

TRIDACNACEA. 307

as a striking proof that the tender mercies of the Creator
are over all His works. That gracious Being, who sustains
the planets in their courses, takes care of the helpless Pinna,
and assigns him a companion, who, himself houseless and
defenceless, amply compensates, by activity and quick-
sightedness, for the deficiencies of his blind protector.

Family V. TRIDACNACEA.

Methinks that quiet spirit,
Which broodeth o’er the rocks and sounding shore,
Blends with the awful rushing of the waters,
And fills this lonely spot with holiest musings.

The Zridacnacea exhibit a well-defined assemblage of
characters, and may be easily distinguished. They are
generally of considerable size, living attached to rocks and
corals, by means of a strong byssus; and as they are readily
found in open places, they are brought to this country in
great abundance. Their shells are solid, transverse, equi-
valve, and more or less gaping at the lunule, beneath the
umboes ; the ventral or outer margins of the valves being
deeply sinuated, and interclosing with each other. The
muscular impression is duplex or bipartite, situated about
the centre, and spreading nearly to the ventral margin.

x2

308 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

Two genera belong to this family—Zridacna and Hip-
popus.

One species, the Zridacna gigas, is by far the most gi-
gantie of all mollusks ; its muscular powers are said to be
very great, and the shell is so large and ponderous, as to
exceed occasionally five hundred pounds in weight. This
gigantic shell is believed to have been noticed by Nicander,
and some of the early Greek poets.

The Zridacna gigas is doubtless referred to by Linneus,

when he spoke concerning a specimen that weighed four
hundred and ninety-eight English pounds, of which the
inhabitant afforded a plentiful supply of food to a large
company of men, and the sudden closing of whose valves
was sufficient to snap a cable asunder.
_ A manuscript in the hbrary of the late Sir Joseph Banks,
also notices the dimensions of a specimen brought from
Sumatra, and preserved at Ano’s Vale, in Ireland: the
weight amounted to five hundred and seven pounds; the
largest valve measured four feet six inches in length, two
feet five inches in breadth, and one foot in depth. A shell
of the same species forms the baptismal font at the church
of St. Sulpice at Paris : it was presented by the Venetians
to Francis the First.

CHAMACEA. 309

Large pearls are occasionally found in the Zridacna gigas.
One, exhibited at Sir Joseph Banks’s, in June 1804, was
valued at two or three hundred pounds. The colour of
this extraordinary shell is of a dirty white, or yellowish or
reddish brown. The hinge is furnished with a cartilage of
a dull brown colour, but, when cut and polished, is beauti-
fully iridescent as the opal.

The genus [Hippopus presents a curiously imbricated shell,
of which the interior is lined with clear white enamel, trans-
parent as alabaster. The muscular impression is not spread
out towards the central margin, as in the previous genus :
these, although not very important differences, are peculiar
and unchangeable.

Family VI. Cuamacra.

Who has net heard of tiny folks that dance

In green and gold, when shine the bright moonbeams,
Or sportive elves, that take all curious shapes

Of fantasie? But far less beauteous they,

Less wonderful, than those that calmly dwell
Beneath the waters.

Next in the descending scale is the Order Bimuseulosa,
which includes such mollusea as are attached to their shells
by two adductor muscles, the marks of which attachment

310 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

are exhibited in the interior, at the lateral extremities of
each valve.

The shell of Chamacea is characterized as being irregular,
inequivalve, and always attached by one valve to some other
substance. The hinge consists of a single tooth, though
occasionally obsolete. Two genera only are referred to this
family, Htheria and Chama; the former inhabiting rivers,
the latter peculiar to the sea.

The genus Ltheria represents a small group of mollusks,
inhabiting the great rivers of Central Africa, having a shell
somewhat resembling that of the Ostrea, though differing
essentially in being fiuviatile, and in possessing two internal
muscles of attachment.

When the genus was first established by Sowerby in his
‘Genera of Shells,’ he suspected it to be an inhabitant of
fresh water, in consequence of the shell being eroded, like
that of the Naiades, and the outer surface being often
covered with the remains of those ovate vesicular bodies
that adhere to the Neriting, and are supposed to be the
eggs of fresh-water mollusks. This conjectural opinion has
been singularly confirmed by recent discoveries ; the Etherie
having been found by Rang in the rivers of Senegal, and
by Cailliaud in the Nile, as high as the cataracts of Robatas,

ETHERIA. ol

in Upper Nubia. They are described by the latter in his
‘Voyage a Méroé, as being a common article of food, and
their shells are collected by the natives in order to decorate °
the tombs of deceased relatives.

Etheria, though once considered as somewhat allied
to the Naiades, differ materially in their habits and mode
of growth, bemg found in small clusters. They adhere
firmly to one another, and present the most singular distor-
tions of form, the nacre lining the interior being generally
of a livid green colour, often raised in small blisters, and
not iridescent.

No genus of acephalous mollusks, excepting perhaps the
oyster, are lable to such variations in form and general
aspect as the Chama. All parasitic genera are affected toa
certain extent by irregularities in their places of attach-
ment, but the shells of which we speak are mentioned by
Mr. Reeve as more than usually distorted, by their imhabit-
ing the crevices of rocks or corals, without an inherent
power of abrading, or else absorbing, the obstacles to their
natural advancement. Thus, a great difference subsists
between a specimen which has grown uninterruptedly on a
smooth surface, and one that has been formed within a very
limited area, subject to external pressure; as also betweeen

a2 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

a Chama that has developed his luxuriant foliations in calm
and silent waters, unaffected by exposure to light, and sur-
‘ rounded with nutritious food, adapted for the secretion of
embellishment and colour, and one which, having to con-
tend with the buffeting of the waves, has become stunted
and misshapen. It is also worthy of remark, that while
some species cluster together like bees, others adhere by the
anterior side only of the under valve, and assume the form
of a triangular cornucopia. Yet, notwithstanding these
irregularities, Chama constitutes a very natural and exten-
sive genus, distinguished by colouring and external sculp-
ture, in the form of spines, scales, and lamelle, that are
scarcely inferior in beauty and variety to the Spondyl..
Chama, like all species of vivid colouring and luxuriant
growth, chiefly inhabit the tropical seas. They abound prin-
cipally on the coast of Central America, Peru, Mexico, Hon-
duras, and the West Indies; some are found among the
Pacific Islands, others in Australia, China, and the Philip-
pines; and their northern limit is in the Mediterranean.
The Frondose Chama (Chama frondosa) dredged up
from a rock of coral, at the depth of seventeen fathoms,
off the island of La Plata, West Columbia, is pre-eminent in
beauty, both as regards the bold and elegant structure of

CHAMA. 313

the frondose lamine, towering one above the other, and the
vivid colouring and blending of his beauteous tints.

It seems, while looking at the Violet-mouthed Chama
(C. zostoma), as if fairy fingers had been diligently employed
in moulding his concentric lamine, and embellishing the
interior with a rich purple colouring. Nor less beautiful is
the Foliaceous (C.folzacea), in which the white radiating
row of scales is prominent on a dark red ground. But
one of the most delicate and beautiful species, in this elabo-
rate genus, is the Sinuose Chama (C. sinuosa): the shell is
pure white, whilst the laminze of vaulted scales are coloured
round the base in a very peculiar manner with rose-purple.
We may also briefly notice that the name of the Mean
Chama (C. sordida) is rendered inapplicable by a specimen.
having been discovered of a beautiful clear coral-red colour,
sculptured throughout with fine undulating raised striee, ra-
diating from the umboes. Lastly, that the magnificent C.
Pacifica, or Pacific Chama, obtained at Lord Hood’s Island,
by diving for the large Avicule, to which he attaches himself,
is very peculiar in his colourmg. One might almost fancy,
that an artist had dashed a hasty wash of dark gamboge-
orange across the vivid purple-lake that forms the chief
colour, but without tinging the scales.

314 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

Family VII. Natapus.

These dwell in rivers, such as winding sweep
Through vast savannahs or primeval woods,
Where range the pumas, and the crested snake
Coils in his green abode.

This family includes a numerous and characteristic group
of fluviatile mollusks, chiefly inhabiting the great rivers
of America. In consequence of the gradual and perfect
link which holds this family in connection, five genera are
considered as best calculated to simplify all previous
arrangements, namely, Unio, Hyria, Anodon, Iridina, and
Mycetopus.

The animal inhabitant appears to be nearly the same
m each, excepting in the genus Jridina, where he is
provided with two tubes or syphons, formed by the pro-
- longed union of the under portion of the syphon. The
shell is imequilateral, having the valves connate or free,
covered with a thick olivaceous epidermis, and more or less
eroded at the umboes. The hinge is very irregular, with
generally two or more very thick solid teeth, often none,
and the valves are united by a strong ligament ; the anterior
muscular impression is always compound, showing the
marks of one or more accessory cartilages of attachment.

UNIO. 315

Occasionally the hinge-margin is furnished with an irregular
series of tubercles, but these, also, are often obsolete. As
the name implies, they are found abundantly on river-banks,
after being washed up by the tide.

The genus Unio includes the greater number of those
which are distinguished by thick and massive teeth. No
particulars of interest have transpired concerning them,
and yet the Unio occidens is instanced by Dr. Carpenter,
in his valuable Treatise on Shells, as beautifully illustrat-
ing the arrangement of the outer and inner layers. The
vertical section brings into view the two substances of which
the shell is composed, and most curious are they: the one
an outer or prismatic layer, the other a nacreous lining,
made up of numerous lamine. Lines are also obvious, in-
dicative of successive formations, and proving that at every
enlargement of the shell the whole interior is lined with a
fresh pearly lamina, in immediate contact with that which
preceded it. The number of such lamine, therefore, like
successive circles in the trunks of trees, indicate the number
of enlargements which the shelly structure has undergone.

A beautiful variety of patterns, minute and exquisitely
varied as those produced by the kaleidoscope, are discover-
able in different shells. The prismatic cellular structure

316 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

of the Pinna, when highly magnified, resembles Roman
tesseree; that of the Unio occidens may be compared to
transverse lines, crossing one another ; a vertical section of
the Pinna exhibits in its breadth the semblance of water,
covered at intervals with the stems of rushes ; small saucers,
irregularly formed and arranged, are presented in the Jaminee
of the shell of Ostrea edulis, when magnified 250 diame-
ters. <A section of the Mya arenaria shows, in one part,
distinct cellular partitions, with large nuclear spots; in
another portion of the same layer the cell-boundaries
become fainter and then totally disappear. Different kinds
of shells, such as the Solen, Anatina, Trigonia, &c., present
the appearance of being covered with metallic crystallizations
of great beauty, while the cellular structure of nacre per-
taining to the Haliotis splendens reveals a perfect stratum
~ of cells, somewhat resembling the closely-compressed scale
of the artichoke. The most exquisite frost-work, in all
its varied developments, cannot surpass the effect produced
by the membranous residuum of the shell of Zerebratula
australis, when viewed in different lights; and those who
examine a decalcified membrane of the same species, are
forcibly reminded of those dancing figures that celebrate
the first of May, in a kind of leafy arbours.

ANODON. ol

The shell of the Hyria possesses many characters in
common with that of Unio, but may be, nevertheless, dis-
tinguished by its elongated lamellar teeth.

For the next genus, the term Anodon, signifying “ with-
out teeth,” has been adopted, as expressive of the character
by which it is distinguished from the rest of the Naiades.
Tt will be found, however, that the value of this distinctive
character is much reduced, as a slight indication of teeth
is discoverable in some few shells. The shell is transverse,
equivalve, equilateral, generally thin, covered with a green
epidermis, and somewhat pearly within. When young, the
shell is rather depressed, but increases in convexity as it
increases in age. ‘The hinge is linear, or destitute of teeth,
with a long external ligament, and the impression of the
posterior muscle is always compound.

Tridine are especially entitled to a generic distinction.
The preceding genera have the hinder portion of each
lobe of the mantle simple and free, but in this genus it is
united, and forms two tubes or syphons. The shells are des-
titute of teeth, but the hinge-margin is furnished through-
out with thickly-set tubercles. They are covered externally
with an olivaceous epidermis, and are internally lined with
a reddish pearl, exhibiting more or less of iridescent lustre.

318 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

The genus abounds in the Nile and other rivers of Africa,
and is found in company with Galathea radiata. Cailhaud
observes, that the shells are used by the natives of Lower
Egypt in preparing flax, and also as spoons for measuring
oil and butter, and different kinds of provisions.

The Mycetopi have little affinity with the Jridine: the
lobes of the mantle are free, and they have no syphons ;
their chief peculiarity consists in a long extended cylindrical
foot, inflated at the extremity, and meapable of being with-
drawn. The shell gapes widely at both ends, and seems
to indicate a new organization in the animal inhabitant.
We may presume, therefore, that the mollusk occasionally
changes his abode,—that, unlike many of his brethren,
who moor their floating citadels to rocks or the stems of
giant sea-weeds, he is free to range at will.

Family VIII. Trieonacera.

It may be, that in days long glided by,

When some wild wave had cast thee on the shore,
Tubal pass’d by, and, stooping, with quick hand
Bore thee rejoicing to his palm-roofed home.

The Zrigonacea may be described as having an equivalve
shell, with the hinge composed of a few broad lamelliform

ARCACEA. 319

teeth, closely interlocking with each other. One genus,
Trigonia, is alone referred to this family. The shell of this
genus is lined with the most lustrous indescent pearl, and
the exterior is covered with ribs or furrows running longi-
tudinally in the only recent species known, but transversely
in some fossil specimens.

The shells vary in size according to their place of growth,
and the nutriment that is obtaied by their molluscous
occupant. It may be, that this species furnished the shell to
which Dryden has referred in his Ode to St. Cecilia’s Day.—

** When Tubal struck the chorded shell,
His listening brethren stood around,
And, wondering, on their faces fell,
To worship that celestial sound.
Less than a God, they thought, there could not dwell,

Within the hollow of that shell,
That spoke so sweetly, and so well.”

Family IX. ARrcaceka.

The waves ride by, with their crests of foam,
O’er the liquid plains of their billowy home,
Bearing in sun-light their trophies along,

To the murmuring surge of the wild waves’ song.

The generic type of this family exhibits a distinct and

320 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

well-defined assemblage of characters; the teeth are small
and numerous, set in a straight or curved line, and the
ligament is external, with the exception of the Nucula, in
which this appendage is internal. The teeth of one valve
closely interlock with those of the other.

Four genera pertain to this family—Cuculle@a, Arca,
Pectunculus, and Nucula.

Lamarck instituted the genus Cucul/ea on account of a
broad concamerated shelf in the anterior of the shell, for
the attachment of the anterior muscle; an area or facet
between the umboes, which is formed by the gradual
thickening of the dorsal edges, is also very characteristic
in its appearance.

~The Arca likewise presents a distinct, accurately-defined
assemblage of generic characters, whether as regards the
animal or shell,—peculiar, without doubt, because the um-
boes are, with rare exceptions, more or less widely sepa-
rated from each other, by the interposition of a large area
which sustains the ligament, deposited either over its entire
surface, or in superficial lozenge-shaped grooves, and this
often to a considerable extent. ‘The hinge is composed of
a long rectilinear series of fine plate-like teeth, varying from
thirty and forty, to one hundred and twenty or more in

ARCA. one

number, in each valve; the teeth of one valve are closely and
curiously interlocked with those of the opposite valve, and
the hinge or cardinal axis, thus constituted, runs through
the centre of the ligamentary area.

The genus is divided into two very distinct groups or
sections, and various modifications, either as regards their
composition, growth, or sculpture, arise from difference of
habits in the occupants.

Such as pertain to the first division live free and unat-
tached, their shells are mostly solid and ponderous, uni-
formly disposed in strongly-developed ribs radiating from
the umboes, and giving a crenulated margin to the valves,
by which they interlock one with the other. The shell is
often inequivalve, the margin of the left valve extending
beyond that of the right, and generally exhibiting a more
elaborate style of sculpture, as if the left mantle of its resi-
dent was more highly organized than the night.

The second division live attached to rocks and stones, by
means of a strong muscular byssus, inserted through an
opening in the margin of each valve; the shell is of a hghter
structure and composition, and, being seldom distinctly
ribbed, the margin of the valves is not crenulated. The
protection which the byssus-bearing drce gain by their

Y

322 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

strong power of attachment, allows of a more simple con-
dition of the hinge; the teeth are consequently smaller,
and the ligament weaker.

Here, then, is another, and very obvious instance of adap-
tation to existing circumstances. Aree of the first division,
which are free to range according to their inclinations,
possess solid and ponderous shells: they have frequently
to encounter storms and rolling seas, and are consequently
liable to be tossed on rocky shores. Those of the second
division, which can safely moor themselves to the rocks,
remain undisturbed amid all the fury of the contending
elements.

An interesting monograph of the Arca family has been
published by Mr. Lovell Reeve. It includes a considerable
number of new species, with distinct descriptions of each.

The dwelling-place of very many among its members is
in sand or mud, at considerable depth. The Beautiful Ark
(A. formosa) was found in the Gulf of Tehuantepec, Mexico,
calmly reposing beneath the waters; it was invested with
an epidermis, of which the bristles were at least half an
inch long at the end of the shell. The Copperas Ark
(4. chalcanthum) appears as if stained with green copperas ;
it was first discovered by Mr. Cuming, in sandy mud at

ARCA. a0

the depth of six fathoms, off San Nicholas, one of the Phi-
lippines. A pretty little species, named by Mr. Reeve the
Avicula Ark (A. aviculoides), was found in like manner at
St. Helena, in a muddy bed ten fathoms deep. White
coral, in the harbour of Mozambique, formed the dwelling of
the Hankey Ark, 4. Hankeyana, thus named in compliment
to Lieut. Hankey, R.N., a zealous conchologist, whose re-
searches on the coast of Africa have greatly contributed to
the advancement of science ; while the beautiful Pacific Arks
(A. Pacifica) are found adhering to one another in bunches,
and attached to rocky ground at the depth of from six to
eighteen fathoms, at St. Hlena, South America. Strong
nbbing, and wing-like expansions of the posterior side,
characterize this beautiful species. Others are found con-
cealed beneath stones or attached to shells, and one species,
the Lnthodomus-like Ark (A. Lithodomus), most probably be-
comes imbedded in stones and rocky masses, by the aid of
some powerful solvent secretion.

The delicately-sculptured Decussated Ark (A. decussata)
in which the epidermis rises from between the striz in scaly
bristles, attaches himself to shells in the Pacific Ocean, and is
found especially at the Philippines, and Lord Hood’s and
the Chain Islands.

O24 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

The Angulated Ark (4. angulata), found attached to a
branch of coral, at the depth of eighty fathoms, in Cum-
berland Bay, Juan Fernandez, much resembles a flat Indian
canoe. If the “tiny people” ever pursued their midnight
revels on moon-lit waves, shells of this kind of Arca would
serve as boats, wherein to row merrily among those waving
branches of giant sea-weeds, which lft up their heads
above the waters.

Of equal, or perhaps superior beauty, and suggestive of
poetic thoughts, is the Step-built Ark, 4. gradata. The
inhabitant moors his bark to stones at St. Elena, and the
sculpture of his shell stands out in such prominent relief,
as to present the appearance of elaborate carving: such,
also, is the case with the A. ce/ata, of which the sculpture
is so exquisite as only to equalled by the most delicate em-
bossed carving of the Chinese.

Pectunculus.—Shell orbicular, somewhat lenticular, equi-
valve, rather equilateral, often covered with hairy epidermis;
umboes slightly separated, intervening area small; margins
of the teeth mostly crenulated. Hinge curved, teeth nu-
merous, and oblique middle ones mostly obsolete. Liga-
ment external.—Such are the distinguishing characteristics
of this genus, including about fifty species, many of which

PECTUNCULUS. 325

are new, and by far the greater portion figured for the first
time in the ‘ Conchologia Iconica.’

A bright orange painting distinguishes the new and beau-
tiful Gold-flowing Pectunculus (P. aurifluus), brought from
the island of Capul, one of the Philippines, and found in coral
sand upon the reefs. An adult specimen was singularly
higher in proportion, when compared with a younger one,
and the groove running half-way up the ribs of the latter,
was quite obsolete in the former. Valves of the Thin-
Ribbed Pectuneulus (P. tenuicostatus), from Australia, are
entirely covered with beautiful thread-hke ribs, having the
interstices filled with fine roots of epidermis, arranged in
from three to four rows; while the solid and globose shell
of the P. tessellatus, or Tessellated Pectunculus, from West
Columbia, and found in sandy mud at the depth of ten
fathoms, is very neatly tessellated with rich purple-lake
spots. Ribs of the small Pectunculus pertusus are tinely
pricked, as the name implies, on each side, though bedded
in coarse sand at the depth of ten fathoms, off the Philippine
islands, Mindanao and Luzon, and little apparently in
accordance with such a coarse dwelling-place. A. glossy
silken epidermis adorns the delicate P. sericatus, or Silk-clad
Pectunculus, from Tortola; and dark ruddy spots, sparingly

326 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

scattered here and there upon the warm uniform ground
which covers the surface, characterizes the P. pallium, or
Mantle Pectunculus, from Zanzibar.

The genus Nueula includes two separate and distinct
divisions of species. In one the shell is thin, and covered
with a green horny epidermis; in the other it is thick and
solid, with a dark brown epidermis: the interior of the
latter differs also from that of the formers in being pearly.
The umboes are contiguous, there being no intermediate
area, as in the rest of the Arcacea, in consequence of the
change in the position of the hgament. The hinge is
linear, with an internal obliquely-produced pit in the centre,
for the reception of the ligament; the teeth are numerous,
sharp, rather recurved, set in a straight series on either
side the ligamentary cavity. ‘The muscular impression of
the mantle is entire.

While recurring to the species above mentioned, we
cannot avoid remarking the variety of structure and con-
figuration, conspicuous in each. No two shells are alike
in all their parts and tintings, and, doubtless, individual
members of the family would exhibit an equal difference
with respect to their forms and instincts, were it possible to
become perfectly acquainted with them. Nay, more, we

NUCULA. 327

may assume, that each mollusk has his own favourite sea-
weed, to which the creature resorts, either as to a home, a
citadel, or a storehouse. This is the case on land, and why
not within the deep? very insect is given to some plant,
the moment it emerges to life: a leaf or flower has opened
or unfolded for its reception, a blade of grass has sprung
up, or some humble wayside weed holds up its tiny cups
filled with nectar.

The tide continually presents to us many a curious sea-
weed, freighted with small shells and their inhabitants.
Those, too, who are out at sea, often derive no small plea-
sure and amusement from examining branches of Sargas-
sum, or masses of algee, which may be compared to minute
zoological gardens, with their dissimilar occupants. Pro-
fessor Scouler mentions one such, as having afforded him
a pleasant occupation for some days. He noticed two or
three Serpule wandering among the branches of their float-
ing island, and that interesting mollusk, the Zyalea, who
employed himself in climbing the branches by means of
his beautifully-grooved foot, and grazing upon the fronds ;
sponges of small size and curious forms attached them-
selves to the roots; and naturalists who have examined
such floating meadows, report that sea-stars and sea-

328 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

urchins, with different kinds of shells, have been discovered,
some nestling among the branches, others pasturing on
the leaves, all instinct with life, and apparently susceptible
of enjoyment. liven the sand which adheres to the roots,
shelters many creatures of strange forms and instincts,—per-
fect in all their parts, extremely beautiful, yet so minute,
as to require a high magnifier in order to perceive them.

Family X. Carpracka.

It is pleasant to see how the billows run,

How they sparkle and flash to the rising sun,
Reflecting the clouds in their airy ride,

And bearing along, as with conscious pride,
Sea-weeds and shells from the wild sea waves,
Which lie hid in the depth of the fathomless caves,
Where the foot treadeth not, nor the eye may scan,
Deep, deep, from the haunts and the homes of man.

The shell of the family Curdiacea is equivalve, cordi-
form or transverse, sometimes a little gapimg; and the
valves are mostly characterized by being disposed im longi-
tudinal ribs diverging in symmetrical order from the um-
boes to the margin. There are generally two cardinal
teeth, irregular both in form and situation, and one or two

Plate XVI.

Reeve & Nichols | imp :

CARDIACEA. 329

lateral teeth, but sometimes none. There are four genera—
Cardium, Isocardia, Cardita, and Cypricardia.

The genus Cardiwm remains nearly as it was left by
Linneus, and is very numerous in species. The common
Cockle, Cardium edule, may be regarded as a type of the
series, their shells being more or less of 2 globular cor-
date form.

Varieties of this interesting genus are met with on the
shores and in the depth of almost every ocean. He who
visits the muddy, flat, and desolate shores of Hudson’s Bay,
may observe, for the space of at least ten miles, large num-
bers of the common species deposited upon the beach. They
tell him of other days, and other times, when the waters,
yielding somewhat of their ancient empire, receded from
the place they once occupied. The same species abounds
in Scotland, and is used in the Hebrides for skimming
milk. Macpherson informs us, that, in the days of Fingal,
they were admitted into the feasts of heroes, as the cup of
their festivity, by the name of s/iga-crechin, or the drinking-
shell.

The genus Lsocardia, though limited in species, is espe-
cially distinguished by the beautiful and novel structure of
the umboes, which, instead of terminating in immediate

330 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

approximation to each other, as in the genus Cardiwm and
others, divaricate in an opposite direction, and become most
symmetrically involuted. The bifurcate extension of the
ligament is also peculiar. Only five species are at present
known: two of similar character, one British or Irish, the
other Mediterranean, distinguished from each other by their
transverse or globose form, with a variation in the incur-
vature of the umboes; and three of like affinity from the
Eastern world, the specific peculiarities of which are deter-
mined by variations of form and by the varied development
of the concentric ridges.

The first peculiarity that invites attention, both in the
Cardite and Cypricardia, as distinguished from the beau-
tiful cordiform symmetry of the Jsocardia, is the great
dissimilitude between the anterior and posterior portions of
- the shell; the former being remarkably short and con-
tracted, whilst the latter is always more or less elongated or
rounded. ‘Two simple, thick, oblique teeth are conspicuous
in one valve of the Cardita, and one of which, varying in
length according to the elongated proportion of the shell,
interlocks, with a single oblique plait, in the opposite
valve. It almost seems as if the young mollusk inhabiting
the Allied Cuardita (C. affinis) took peculiar pleasure in

CARDITA. Bip!

embellishing his shell with prickly scales, and that the in-
clination ceases when advancing to middle life. Certain it
is, that such decorations are found only attached to young
shells.

Great variety prevails in this graceful genus: some are
characterized by small zigzag lines; others are of a deep
rose-colour; in others, again, the rose tint is exchanged for
bright saffron-yellow, and a few irregular lines tastefully di-
versify the surface. Some species are very numerous ; others
isolated, as in the case of the C. Cuvierz ; concerning which it
is related by Mr. Broderip that, after the capture of this fine
shell in the Bay of Fonseca, Central America, the dredge
was kept at work in sandy mud, in eleven fathoms water,
during some hours, but no other specimen could be obtained.
This species far exceeds in size and beauty any that have
hitherto been discovered, and is so exquisitely sculptured
with broad and elevated ribs, composed of jointed knobs, as
to exhibit almost the appearance of carved work.

In the C. dacunosa, or Guttered Cardita, the prickly scales
which surmount the singularly compressed ribs are placed
at equal distances, while each rib is so festooned from one
scale to another as to resemble a miniature series of in-
verted arches.

332 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

The Deep-dwelling Cardita (C. abyssicola) abides, as his
name implies, far beyond the reach of human ken. The
species is beautifully sculptured, and especially curious,
from having been dredged by Mr. Hinds, in the Straits of
Malacca, at the great depth of one hundred fathoms; and
whereas some species are vividly adorned with bright tints,
this shell of the abyss is colourless, and looks as if cut from
alabaster.

Wherever the Chambered Cardita (C. concamerata) finds
a home, she carries with her a small cradle, in the shape
of a curious cup-like structure, formed by a fold of the cal-
careous lining of the valve. This singular appendage con-
tains her eggs, which remain until perfectly developed, and
ready to disclose the complete animal and shell. <A pe-
culiar fan-shape distinguishes the minute C. flabellum, found
at Valparaiso, South America. The same habitat, also, re-
veals the C. cardita, or Tiled Cardita, of which the sculpture
resembles a tiled roof.

The Cypricardia exhibits in his hinge a more complicated
character than that of the previous genus, there being three
short teeth beneath the umboes, together with an elongated
lateral tooth in each valve; the shell, also, is different, both
in structure and composition,—as regards the first, in never

CYPRICARDIA. ace

being radiately ribbed; as regards the second, in being of
an opake-white nature, with little or no indication of epi-
dermis. Among such as belong to this small genus of
thirteen species, there are three which differ materially from
their brethren im their habits, masmuch as they live im-
bedded in shells or large masses of madrepore, after the
manner of the Lithodomi: the shells, also, are not much
unlike them in form and general appearance. They are of
a pecuhar tenuity and transparency, and do not present that
posterior angulation which is so prominent in the typical
species.

Of these, the Coral-eating Cypricardia (C. coralliophaga)
is found at the depth of five fathoms, piercing and imbedded
in the Avicula margaritifera, at Lord Hood’s Island, Pacific
Ocean, and within masses of coral and madrepores in the
West Indies; such, also, is the haunt of the Laminated
(C. laminata). The C. decussata is likewise one of the tere-
brating species; but the habitat is, as yet, undiscovered.

A surpassing delicacy of the ridges is characteristic
of the Flesh-tinted Cypricardia (C. incarnata), discovered
under a stone at low water in one of the Philippines. In-
stead of looking as if raised upon the surface, they appear
hike undulated rays of hght.

334 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGR.

Neither painting nor description can do justice to the
beautiful Serrated Cypricardia (C. serrata), on account of
its delicately pink serrated laminz ; nor yet to the Oblong
Cypricardia (C. oblonga), vividly marked with interrupted
purple lines on the posterior angle of the shell, while the
anterior angle is white, more or less stamed with pink. The
habitat of the first is unknown; that of the other is coarse
coral sand at low water.

Family XI. Concwacza.
Beneath the waters, dwelling in bright shells

Their skill hath wrought,—perchance in coral caves,
Or ’neath the shelter of those beauteous groves,
That wave and sparkle, as the waters heave,—
Conchacea fix their homes: obedient they

To Nature’s laws.

This is a numerous family, and distinguished by the ele-
gance aud beauty of the shells. These pass through consi-
derable variety of form, and their gradual modification has
given rise to much speculation on their distribution mto
genera. In the subdivision of this family, the whole of
which is included in the genus Venus of Linneeus, the first
object has been to separate such as inhabit rivers from those
that are decidedly marine.

CONCHACEA. 335

The river Conchacea are not very numerous in species,
neither are such as inhabit lakes, or fens and marshes. They
may be recognized by having their shells covered with a thick
hard epidermis, generally much eroded towards the umboes.
The hinge has two or more distinct lateral teeth, which
peculiarity is not discoverable in the marine.

Three genera pertain to the Fluviatile Conchacea, namely,
Cyclas, Cyrena, and Galathea; but no particulars of inte-
rest are associated with them. ‘The last genus was instituted
by Bruguiére, for the reception of a singular mollusk inhabit-
ing the great rivers of Africa.

Shells of the Marine Couchacea differ from those of the
Fluviatile, in being mostly destitute of epidermis, and in
having but one lateral tooth, often none; but the cardinal
teeth are similar. An immense series of marine mol-
lusks pertain to this division: the animal inhabitants
are nearly similar, and scarcely any decided change of
character is perceptible in their testaceous coverings. The
five genera are, Cyprina, Astarte, Venus, Cytherea, and
Pullastra.

_ Cyprina may be said to partake of the characters of
Cyrena and Venus, thus serving to establish a close affinity
between the fluviatile and marine sections of the family.

336 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

The genus is provided with a comparatively large shell,
easily recognized by its thick fibrous epidermis.

The shell of the Astarte is nearly orbicular, and covered
with a brown epidermis. Two divergent teeth pertain to
the right valve of the hinge—one distinct, and one obsolete
tooth to the left.

The shell of the Venus is equivalve, mequilateral, nearly
orbicular, subglobose, generally rough on the outside, and
closely shut. The cardinal teeth mostly belong to each
valve, somewhat contiguous, and diverging from the umbo.

Three divaricate cardinal teeth are obvious in one valve
of the Cytherea, with a somewhat remote pit running
parallel with the margin ; and four in the other, one remote,
diverging laterally, and almost considered as a lateral tooth,
inserted in the pit of the opposite valve.

The equivalve, transverse, and equilateral shell of the
genus Pullastra, which is much shorter on the anterior
side, has, also, three contiguous cardinal teeth, sometimes
a little emarginated at -the poimt m each valve, but no
lateral teeth. The muscular impression of the mantle has
a large sinus, and the ligament is external, though partially
concealed.

The component parts or superficies of shells are often

BEAUTY OF SHELLS. gon

highly ornamental, but the properties which render them
so do not apparently conduce to any other purpose. In
shells and flowers, the principle of beauty holds a con-
siderable place in their composition, and is more prominent
than in animals. Why, for instance, are the shells of the
genus Cardium, or Cockle, frequently of a dark brown
colour, varied with white hollow elevated ribs? Why are
those of the Zellina, or Tellen, so remarkable for their
beautiful radiations? Why are so many species of Venus
unrivalled in their brilliant tintings and lustre P—the rich
purple Venus mercenaria, or Money Venus, especially,
which is used by the Indians of North America to form the
purple and white beads of wampums, or treaty-belts. The
processes of animal nutrition, so far as we can see, might
have been carried on as well under the sober coating of
the garden-snail. This variety is not the effect of age, nor
of any declension in the vigour of the subject, for the
young and active are generally most distinguished for the
brilliancy of their tints; it is evidently independent of the
inhabitant. In none of the numerous family of Zestacea
is it more remarkable than in the hundred and fifteen species
of this elegant genus, most of which are celebrated for the
smoothness and brilliancy, as well as the rich and high
Z

338 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

colouring, of their surfaces. Ancient poets were not inat-
tentive to their merit : they fabled that Venus selected one
of the most beautiful for the car that bore her in triumph
to the shores of Paphos. Different species of the same
interesting genus are used in both hemispheres for purposes
of decoration. The females of the North American Indians
cover with them the shoes which they use in dancing, and
thus produce a sound somewhat resembling the tinkling of
the little bells that were worn on similar occasions by the
Jewish ladies: a mode of decoration noticed and repre-
hended by Isaiah, in his energetic admonition to the un-
thinking daughters of Zion.

Family XII. Nympwacna.

Ye have uo voice, whereby to swell His praise,
Who called youinto being. While the birds

Sing loud along the shores, where you have moored
Your barks, or else beneath the waters range,
‘That lave their homes, the trees, ye stilly dwell :
Nor voice nor sound have ye; and yet methinks
Your beauteous forms, and hues, and varying tints,
Speak in the ear of reason, praising Him

Who bade the waters teem with such as you.

Eight genera pertain to this family, namely, Sanguinolaria,

NYMPHACEA. 339

Psammobia, Galeomma, Tellina, Corbis, Lucina, Donax, and
Capsa.

The shell of Sanguinolaria is equivalve, inequilateral,
transverse, somewhat elliptic, compressed, thin, and a little
gaping at both sides; the margins are curved, and not
parallel. Two cardinal teeth are situated close to each
other in each valve, sometimes bifid, also a prominent tes-
taceous appendage or fulcrum on the umbonal margin.
The muscular impression of the mantle exhibits a large
sinus.

The genus Psammobia, which connects Sanguinolaria and
Tellina, is chiefly characterized by the shell being always
more or less angular at one end, with the cardinal teeth
short, and mostly bifid.

The shell of the genus Ga/eomma is thin, small, oblongo-
ovate, equivalve, equilateral, and gaping at the ventral
margin. One cardinal tooth belongs to each valve ; liga-
ment small, duplex, partly internal, and partly external.

The shell of Ze/dna is transverse or orbicular, nearly
equivalve, flat, and having the anterior side somewhat beaked
or angular, and in general irregularly flexuose at the ventral
margin. ‘Two lateral and two cardinal teeth belong to each
valve; the former, however, are often remote, sometimes

Z 2

340 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

altogether wanting. The muscular impression has a large
sinus.

The characteristic genus Cordis, instituted by Cuvier,
displays a beautiful shell, which is easily recognized by lon-
gitudinal and transverse fimbriated undulations, or lamellar
ridges, crossing the external surface of the valves, and
diverging, also, from the umboes to the margin. ‘The
colour is uniformly of a clear white, occasionally tinged
or radiated with pink.

The genus Lucina comprehends a natural assemblage of
species, selected from the Zed/ine and Veneres of Linneus:
_ they exhibit a peculiar similarity of form, but are remark-
able for the variety of character displayed on the surface
of the interior. ‘The hinge and teeth are irregular in their
development; it is, therefore, needful to mention that the
shell is generally orbicular, equivalve, inequilateral, some-
what depressed; that the umboes are small, acute, and
oblique, and that the hinge has sometimes two divergent
teeth, sometimes none; lastly, that one valve contains two
lateral teeth, one on either side, the anterior situated near
the hinge, while in the other there is but one; the teeth
are, however, often obsolete. ‘The muscular impressions of
attachment are distant from each other: the anterior forms

DONAX. 3b41

an elongated or ligulate band. Internally the shell is
often punctured with small holes.

Shells of the genus Donax are so strongly characterized
by their form, that the genus remains nearly as entire as
in the time of Linneus. Their construction is singular,
resembling a wedge, broad and thick at one end, and
gradually tapering towards the other ; a construction which
considerably assists the inhabitant in excavating his sub-
terranean abode. The hinge is furnished with two small
teeth, and the anterior slope is generally gaping. To
remedy this apparent inconvenience, a ligament is placed
near the fissure, which prevents the valves from separating
when the indwelling mollusk has occasion to expand them.
The peculiar construction of the shell, the slight adhesion
of the hinges, the gaping of the valves, the ligament which
prevents them from separating, and the facility afforded by
all these of readily procuring food or enabling the mollusk
to change his place of abode, afford, when compared with
the dissimilar construction of other shell-fish, convincing
proofs of appropriate design. The name Donax is derived
from a Greek word, signifying a reed; and a flying reed is
used by the ancients for an arrow. The name aptly describes
the shape, which resembles the head of a javelin. The

42 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

Oo

species delight to burrow in the sand, or among loose
pebbles on the sea-shore, and are found in almost every part
of the known world.

The Capsa, which is closely allied to Donar, may be
described as transverse, equivalve, somewhat inequilateral,
with the valves closed, and never crenulated round the
inner margin, which occurs in Donar. The hinge is com-
posed of two cardinal teeth in one valve, and one cardinal,
with two nearly obsolete lateral teeth, in the other. The
ligament is external, and the muscular impression of the
mantle exhibits a large oblong sinus.

Family XU. Lirnoryaea.

Ye dwell in rocks, strange creatures as ye are,
Shunning the light of day, and boring deep,

To make your homes; then, looking forth at will,
Ye watch the wild waves as they come and go,

Nor heed the fierce north wind, though howling loud
Around the oid sea-wall, or rock, or cliff,

Where you are stationed.

Lamarck instituted this family for the purpose of asso-
ciating a small group of terebrating mollusks, which,
although inhabiting hard calcareous rocks, differ from the
Tubicola and Pholadaria, not only in the growth of their

LITHOPHAGA. 343

shells, but in the absence of any tube or accessory pieces.
It includes only two genera—Sazicava and Petricola.

The shell of the first genus presents such a remarkable
diversity of character at different periods of its growth, as
to occasion the same species to be assigned to different
genera. ‘Thus the well-known Sazicava rugosa, when
covered with small spines, has received a second name, Hia-
tella arctica ; and when still younger, a third, Solen minutus ;
and not till the spines were lost, the teeth became obsolete,
and the shell had assumed an irregular growth from its
habit of terebrating, has it been recognized.

This curious mollusk is a most skilful borer of limestone
rocks, and his operations have been carried on during such
long periods as to destroy large masses, and make deep
water where shoals previously existed. Hence the huge
blocks of Portland stone, to which the buoys were formerly
attached, were punctured in the course of two or three years
on the surface, and also deeply perforated by this indefati-
gable miner. The sea-walls of Devonport Dockyard, which
are formed of Portland stone, are likewise honeycombed and
frittered away, below the low-water level of spring tides, by
the same unceasing agency. Along the base of the sea-
walls may be found innumerable Saxicave, nested in their

344: INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

holes; higher up, their empty shells are alone discoverable ;
above high water, their perforations only are to be found.
Hence it is assumed that all the limestone rocks around
Plymouth were under water within the period during which
the Saxicave were employed in their destruction.

Occasionally the rocks are protected from their aggres-
sions by large colonies of Lalani, or Sea Acorns, having
erected on them their conically-shaped dwellings; at other
times deposits of mud and sand are formed over the rocky
base, and hence the operations of boring mollusks neces-
sarily cease.

Great diversity of opinion exists with regard to the
means employed by mollusks in forming their perforations :
we give a few of those opinions, as expressed in the Geo-
logical section of a meeting of the British Association at
Plymouth.

Specimens of perforated rocks brought from Mount Bat-
tin were regarded by Dr. Buckland as neither the work of
Saxicava nor Pholas, but similar to some discovered at Bou-
logne, and ascertained to be occasioned by the common
garden-snail. He had observed perforations of the same
character at Tenby, and Mr. Topwith spoke of them as fre-
quent in Northumberland, on the under side of projecting

PERFORATED ROCKS. 345
mountain shelves of limestone. Holes made by the Pholas
and Saricava were noticed as being smaller at the aperture,
and increasing inward as the shell grows, and assuming its
shape; while those produced by snails were larger at the
aperture, and so irregular in form and direction as fre-
quently to trench one upon the other. Dr. Buckland attri-
buted these dissimilar perforations to the agency of an acid
secretion ; in the Pholas to his solvent powers softening the
rock, and aided by the rasping action of the shell; in the
common snail to the secretion of the same acid in very
small quantities by the foot of the animal, during his daily
retreat to such habitats. Professor Owen suggested that
rock-boring mollusks owed their excavations to the action
of extremely minute cilia, which move incessantly and inde-
pendently of the will of the animal; producing currents in
the water necessary to their existence when lodged in rocks,
which currents increased in power as the shell proceeded
inward. Mr. J. Philips, on the contrary, alluded to the
beautiful regularity of holes made by Pholades, in proof of
their being rather formed by the shell than by currents of
water. Sir H. De la Beche observed, that free carbonic
acid, applied to limestone, will convert it into a bicar-
bonate, soluble in water; that the acid exhaled by the ani-

346 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

mal in breathing might have the power of softening his
rocky dwelling-place. Dr. Buckland observed that if the
perforations were owing to currents, the greater force would
be exerted at the aperture, and consequently render that
the larger part, while the interior of perforations made by
Pholades at Lyme Regis, were marked by parallel circular
strie, owing to the mechanical action of the shell, which
rasps away the rock, and increases the size of the cavity
in exact proportion with its growth. The perforations at-
tributed to land-mollusks were entirely chemical. Perfora-
tions in limestone rocks brought from Barnstaple to the
Cambridge Museum, were mentioned by Professor Henslow
as being hollowed by the chemical action of muriate of lime
having converted some parts into carbonate of soda. Whe-
ther such perforations are accounted for by the action of
carbonic acid, or the agency of currents, certain it is that
these mollusks establish themselves not only in limestone,
but trap-rocks, and those of the Old Red Sandstone.

The shells of the Petricola, which pertain to the same
family, assume also a similar irregularity of growth, from
the habit of burrowmg: they may be readily distinguished
from those of Saxicava by the teeth being more fully deve-
loped, and by having a large sinus in the pallial impression.

347

Family XIV. Macrracea.

“Oh! who that has an eye to see,—
A heart to feel,—a tongue to bless,
Can ever undelighted be,
With Nature’s magic loveliness !”’

Shells of this family are generally inequilateral, they are
either closed or gaping, and the ligament is always partially
or altogether internal. ‘The following are its genera :—
LIutraria, Mactra, Gnathodon, Crassatella, Mesodesma, Un-
gulina, Amphidesma, Cumingia.

The shell of the Zwtraria may be readily distinguished
by the absence of lateral teeth; it has, also, a large sinus in
the muscular impression: its form 1s equivalve, inequilate-
ral, transverse, oblong or ovate, and gaping at the sides.

Mactre are very numerous, and include many rare and
beautiful species, their shells exhibit somewhat of diversity,
but are generally more or less triangular. The hinge is
characterized by a projecting triangular cardinal tooth in
each valve, with occasionally another thin sharp tooth on
the posterior side, and an elongated lateral one diverging
from each side of the umbo in one valve, fitting between two
similarly situated in the opposite valve.

348 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

Gnathodon has a shell that is nearly oval, equivalve, and
inequilateral, covered with an olive-green epidermis, and
generally a little decorticated at the umboes.. A lateral and
two cardinal teeth are apparent in one valve, shutting
between two cardinal and two lateral teeth in the other.
The ligament is internal, inserted in a deep pit between the
cardinal and posterior lateral teeth, and the impression of
the mantle exhibits a small sinus. |

Shells of the genus Crassatel/a exhibit an interesting
peculiarity of character: they are both thick and solid, with
an internal ligament, and rich dark brown epidermis.
Eleven species were referred to this genus by Lamarck, but
six only are allowed to remain. Since then, three new
species have been described by Sowerby, and ten by Mr.
Reeve, in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society.

Several specimens of the Swollen Crassatella (C. gibbosa)
were dredged up by Mr. Cuming from sandy mud in eleven
fathoms water, off St. Elena, and Xipixpi, in South America.
Those figured in the ‘Conchologia Iconica’ are the oldest
and the youngest of these; they are admirably adapted
to show the different periods of growth :—when young, the
valves are depressed and strongly undulated, after which
they gradually assume a gibbous form, and the undula-

CRASSATELLA. 349

tions, though retaining their original formation, become
pressed up to the umboes.

The C. castanea, or Chestnut Crassatella, the largest of
the genus, is singularly distinguished by a smooth erosion
of the umboes, as also by the bright horny nature of the
epidermis. Three specimens of this fine shell are the pro-
duction of New Holland, each exhibiting a marked pecu-
liarity of character.

The magnificent Crassatella of the West Indies (C. Anéil-
larum), dredged at the island of Margaretta, in the pearl-
fisheries, has the same rich chocolate-coloured interior as the
C. undulata, to which species it approaches nearer in most
respects than any other.

The Sunbeam Crassatella (C.jubar), from the western
coast of New Holland, is also deserving of especial notice.
Tt exhibits a great peculiarity of character, in being so
richly illumined with rays, as to deserve the name it bears.
A solid triangular form, and bright warm rose-colour, de-
signate the pretty little Three-cornered Crassatella (C. tri-
quetra), of which the habitat is unknown; a peculiar singu-
larity in the strie, the Contrarily-striated Crassatella (C. di-
varicata), from the coast of Guinea. In this species,
the anterior half of the shell is marked transversely, the
posterior obliquely.

350 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

The shell of the genus Mesodesma is ovate, transverse,
somewhat triangular, equivalve, rather compressed, thick, and
generally closed. The hinge has two lateral teeth m each
valve, between which is situated a deep spoon-shaped cavity
for the insertion of a ligament. ‘The muscular points of
attachment are unequal, and the impression of the mantle
exhibits a sinus on the posterior side.

Daudin instituted the genus Ungulina for the reception
of a remarkable variety of Muctracea, differing in a peculiar
degree from any of his brethren as regards the position of
the ligament. The shell is nearly orbicular, rounded,
equivalve, subequilateral, and closed at the sides. A short
bifid cardinal tooth is obvious in each valve, with the
addition of a small tooth in one of the valves only, but no
lateral teeth; and just within the anterior margin appears
an oblong narrowly-divided pit or cavity, containing the
ligament, which is also divided, and so near the margin as
to be partially visible externally. The muscular impression
of the mantle is entire, and distinctly marked.

The genus Amphidesma includes a numerous and well-
defined group, somewhat variable as regards their shells;
for some are transverse, others orbicular, but readily dis-
tinguished by the peculiar position of a duplex ligament.

MYARIA. 351

The shell is slightly inequilateral, transverse, nearly oval or
round, slightly gaping at the sides: the hinge is composed
of either one or two cardinal teeth in each valve, with a
long narrow pit lying between them for the insertion of the
ligament, which is duplex, partly external and thin, partly
internal and short. The palhal impression has a large sinus.

Sowerby established the genus Cumingia for the intro-
duction of a new and interesting species. The shell exhibits
the unusual character of having two strong lateral teeth in
one valve, and none in the other ; but approximates, in other
respects, to that of the Amphidesmata. Few instances are
on record in which a naturalist has been honoured by the
introduction of his name into the nomenclature of genera ;
but the indefatigable zeal which has been displayed by Mr.

Cuming fully entitle him to such a distinction.

Family XV. Myarta.

Oh! the wild sea-beach
Is lone and dull when men unwilling roam,
Vex’d with the salt spray or the whistling wind,
Heedless of shells or sea-weeds: yet not Jone
To him who walks with Nature, noting well
Her perfect works, however small they be.

A natural link is formed by the family Wyaria between

352 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

the Solenacea and Mactracea, partaking of the characters of
both. Their shell is generally gaping on both sides, with
an internal ligament inserted in the hollow of a prominent
spoon-shaped tooth in one or both valves. Occasionally,
however, the ligament is external, and it is then partially
covered with a small testaceous appendage. Such are the
characteristics of the Myaria, to which eight genera per-
tain—Mya, Anatina, Thracia, Corbula, Pandora, Anatinella,
Myochama, and Cleidotherus.

The genus Mya, which serves to connect this family with
the Solenacea, is peculiarly characterized. ‘The shell is
transverse, inequilateral, gaping at both ends, and covered
with a thick epidermis, which is continued at the end over
two lobes, protruded by the animal in making its way into
the sand. A large prominent spoon-shaped tooth is con-
spicuous in one valve, with a corresponding pit or cavity in
the other, between which the ligament or cartilage is in-
serted. This tooth displays a very curious variety of cell-
structure, in which a layer of large cells, occupied by car-
bonate of lime, disposed in a radiated form of crystallization,
resembles that of the mineral called Wavellite. Traces of
this beautiful arrangement are also discoverable in other
instances.

ANATINA. aD0

Shells of this division are said to abound in that part of
the Congo territory through which the Zaire flows into the
Southern Atlantic, and are eagerly sought for by the natives,
who assemble for this purpose, with their canoes, in com-
panies of three or four hundred. Considerable numbers
are also taken by the women in scoop-nets, made with
the fibres of creeping plants, or from herbaceous cotton,
which is common to the Congo. In some parts of the river
they are caught in baskets placed along the water’s edge ;
in others by means of poisonous plants.

The tall trees that clothe the banks of the rapid Zaire—
the numerous islands mantled with thick mangroves, or
covered with Egyptian papyrus, or clumps of the majestic
wine-producing Penix, which cluster round the native
villages—bring to mind the power of Him who caused them
to spring from the earth; whilst the humble Mya, enclosed
in a strongly-constructed shell, which enables him to resist,
when needful, the action of rapid and agitated waters, tells,
in accents soft as the dew of heaven, that His tender mer-
cies are over all his works.

The true Anatina resembles Mya in his mode of life, but
the shell differs in having the spoon-shaped ligamentiferous
process in both valves. ‘The chief peculiarity is, however,

2A

354 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

a small, curved, testaceous appendage, situated before the
spoon-shaped process, and, being connected with the liga-
ment, serving to strengthen it. We may, therefore, assume
that the Anatina, though burrowing im sand, is occasionally
exposed to the rough beating of a boisterous sea.

The genus Zzracia is characterized by an oval, oblong,
and inequivalve shell; thin, fragile, and gaping at both
sides. The hinge consists of a more or less prominent,
horizontal, concave tooth in each valve, receiving the liga-
ment; and the pailial impression is deeply marked.

Shells of Corbuda are remarkable for their solidity, and
peculiarity of growth; and the two valves present a greater
inequality of size and general sculpture than those of any
other mollusks of the class. They are mostly marine, al-
though a few, like the Cerithia, are found in fresh or
brackish water. Lamarck mentioned only eight species. Mr.
Cuming added to them seven new ones, discovered along _
the western coasts of South America; and about twice that
number have been described by Mr. Hinds, from collections
made by himself, in company with Captain Belcher, and by
Mr. Cuming, during his researches amongst the Philippines.

The Red-toothed Corbula (C. erythrodon) may be easily
recognized by the rich marginal painting of the interior.

CORBULA. 355

This species is found on the shores of Japan; while the
C. nucleus, or Kernel Corbuda, an ancient and well-known
species, is the only one among his brethren that pertains
to the coasts of Britain.

We may briefly mention another species, the Ovate Cor-
bula (C. ovata), taken from the root of a fucus at Ballaugh ;
and, notwithstanding the indefatigable zeal with which Pro-
fessor E. Forbes dredged the entire coast of the Isle of Man,
the specimen figured by Mr. Reeve is the only one of the
genus he ever met with, and is rendered extremely interest-
ing by the fact, that the species has never before been dis-
covered either on the coast of Britain or elsewhere.

The Triangular Cordula (C. trigona) must not be passed
unnoticed. It may be termed a beacon-shell, indicating, by
the same peculiarity of structure as the C. faba and fasciata,
that the species live in situations where the water is rather
brackish than salt.

Pandora is easily recognized by a certain peculiarity of
form in the oblong, flexuous curve of the anterior side of
the shell; as, also, by a small dividing tooth, which appears
in one valve only.

The new and interesting genus Anatinella resembles, in
its general appearance, the Anatina, but without any shelly

2A 2

356 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

appendage; and the sinus in the muscular impression is
also wanting.

Few specimens have yet been discovered of the genus
Myochama, of which the shell, hike that of Azatina, is fur-
nished with a testaceous appendage; and, as in that of
Chama, the lower valve is fixed on some marine sub-
stance. The shell is inequivalve and irregular, with two
diverging cardinal teeth in each valve, in the centre of
which is a triangular cavity, containing the small accessory
already noticed, and connected with it by a horny cartilage.
One valve is attached and flat; the other free and convex,
covered with ribs or interrupted grooves, radiating from the
umboes. The ligament is thin and external.

The genus Cleidotherus approximates to the above, in
having a similar appendage, and im being affixed by the
lower valve. ‘The shell is mequivalve, somewhat pearly
internally :—the attached valve is convex; the other flat,
with a small pointed tooth, fitting into a corresponding pit
in the former.

Many of the preceding species are varied with bright
colours, and elaborately adorned; yet some of the most
brilliantly tinted dwell deep in the world of waters, occa-
sionally even in marine caves, or in fissures of rocks.

SOLENACEA. 357

Chemists assert that light is essential to the full develop-
ment of colour im birds and flowers; hence the glorious
tintings of both in tropical regions, and the gradual sober-
ing of colour towards the poles. But this law does not
universally prevail among the mollusca. Many shells,
brought up by dredging from a great depth, concealed
even among the mud, or imbedded in sand, present the
colours of the rainbow. We cannot understand the reason
why it has pleased the Most High that shells of surpassing
beauty should be found, not only in the depth profound,
amid groves of coral and sea-weeds, but in mud or coarse
sand. We alone know that all His works praise Him,
however minute or concealed. ‘“‘ He has made all things,
and for His pleasure they are and were created.”

Family XVI. SoLenacea.

No theme more curious than the perfect order
That doth prevail wherever life extends.

The shell of the Solenacea, though generaily elongated
or cylindrical, varies considerably in form, as also in the
number and position of the teeth, which, in some instances,
are wholly wanting. It is generally gaping at both ends,

3958 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

and the ligament is external; in some instances a fixed
testaceous appendage, called the fulcrum, is obvious under
the umbo of each valve. There are eight genera—So/en,
Solecurtus, Panopea, Glycimeris, Solemya, Solenella, Glau-
conome, and Pholadomya.

The animal inhabitant of the So/ex, though incapable
of moving forward horizontally, digs a hole nearly two feet
deep in the soft sand, into which he can descend at
pleasure. This is effected by means of a fleshy and cylin-
drical leg, which is capable of being drawn out to a con-
siderable length, sharp at one side, terminating in a point,
and alternately assuming the shape of a hook and a spade ;
one serving the purpose of shovelling out the sand, the
other to assist the wary animal im his descent. When the
Solen wishes to change his place of abode, the leg is put
in requisition, then taking the shape of a ball, it is
stretched as wide as possible. The ball prevents the
creature from slipping back, while the reaction of the
muscles throws him forward. He has, also, a kind of
mantle in front,—a curtain before the opening of his cell,
which enables him to exclude the rough beating of the
tide; he is furnished, moreover, with two united breathing-
tubes, about three or four inches in length, from the upper

SOLEN. 359

end of the shell, and these he projects through the soft
sand, for the evident purpose of maintaining a constant
communication with the water.

Without these admirable appendages, the Solem could
neither moor himself to the nearest rock, like his relative,
the Oyster, nor rise upon his foot, nor raise himself from
the ground. ‘These inabilities are made up to him by the
mantle and the breathing-tubes, and, above all, by the
cylindrical leg, which enables him to bore into the sand.
In each of these, there is a deviation from the usual
construction of shell-fish,—obviously on account of the
peculiar habits of the animal.

Considerable numbers are found in the Kuropean and
northern seas, and especially on the coast of Normandy.
Among these, a gigantic variety furnished, according to the
legends of Scandinavia, a handle for the dagger of the
Gaulish Cupid, who was armed with an enchanted cuirass,
instead of a bow and quiver. Hence it is related, that
when the queen of beauty descended on the Gallic coast, .
in quest of pearls for her own dress and a knife-handle for
her son, a Triton, instigated by the envious Thetis, stole
her apple from the rock, and bore it to the goddess of the
sea; ‘Thetis immediately broke asunder the golden prize,

360 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

and scattered its seeds along the shore; from which arose the
apple-trees of Normandy, whose brilliant fruit perpetuates
the memory of her triumphs and revenge.

The genus So/ex includes only such species as have
narrow linear shells, with the umboes at one end, and are
commonly called Razor-shells.

The genus Solecurtus comprises certain natural and
characteristic species, that cannot be referred either to the
genus So/en, or to any of his relatives. The shell is
equivalve, ovately oblong, transverse, gaping at both ends,
and covered ofttimes externally with fine undulated strie,
crossing the valves obliquely and longitudinally. Two
cardinal teeth pertain to each valve; and one, rarely two,
to the other, but not interlocking as in the Sodenes.

The shell of Panopea, which is of a large size, is closely
allied to that of Solecurtus. Oval, equivalve, mequilateral,
and gaping widely at both ends, it contains a single acute
cardinal tooth in each valve, with an external ligament
_attached to a large fulcrum, and having the muscular
points of attachment distant from each other, as also a
large sinus.

The Glycimeris presents the characteristic of its tribe,
in gaping at both ends. It is equivalve, thick, transverse,

SOLEMYA. 361

and covered with a thick black horny epidermis, passing
over the edge of each valve. The hinge is without teeth,
and the interior presents a strong impression of the mantle.
This ligament, as in all So/enacea, is external, but in this
genus its position is reversed, being placed on the short
side of the shell, above the umboes, which are generally
much eroded.

A shining brown epidermis passing over the edges of the
valves, invariably pertains to the inequivalve, inequilateral,
transverse, and oblong shell of the Solemya. This elegant
shell is obtuse at the extremities: it possesses a cardinal
tooth in each valve, and a callosity, ranning between them,
receives the ligament which is seen both internally and
externally.

Sowerby created the genus Solened/a for the intro-
duction of a new and interesting mollusk, brought from
Valparaiso by Mr. Cuming. ‘The shell partakes of the
characters of both Solecurtus and Nucula, having an ex-
ternal ligament and large sinus in the muscular impression,
as in the shell of the former; and a lateral row of sharp-
pointed teeth, as in that of the latter, thongh chiefly on the
posterior side.

The Glauconomes are of a ight semi-pearlaceous structure,

362 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

covered with a thin, light-green, horny epidermis, in some
species peculiarly wrinkled or shrivelled and projected over
the margin; the hinge is composed of three irregularly-
forked teeth in each valve, some of which are bifid, the
valves being united by an oblong external ligament. They
dwell in brackish water, in the mouths of rivers, at their
confluence with the sea, and are found imbedded in the
mud. As yet they have only been discovered in the eastern
hemisphere ; and among the several new species added by
Mr. Reeve, in his ‘Conchologia Iconica,’ to the two that
were previously known, the localities of eight are as
follows :—one inhabits the rivers of China, one the Ganges,
three pertain to rivers flowing into the Bay of Manila, and
three to such as water the islands of Zebu, Negros, and
Luzon, of the Philippines.

Some of the genus are elegantly varied. The Waxen
Glauconome (G. cerea), which inhabits the Ganges, is a
delicate pale straw-coloured shell, resembling wax. The
Short Glauconome (G. curta), is of a shorter ovate form
than any of its brethren; it is covered with a fine silken
epidermis, and is beautifully tinted in the interior with a
bluish salmon-colour. A variety of the Wrinkled Glau-
conome (G. rugosa), the largest of the genus, presents a

PHOLADOMYA. 363

very peculiar arrangement of the epidermis. In the middle
of the shell it lies in ridges parallel with the lines of growth,
but towards the ends, especially the anterior, it turns sud-
denly upwards, and becomes dispersed in scattered shrivelled
wrinkles.

Pholadomya, concerning which little at present is dis-
covered, is, however, arranged with the Solenacea. The shell
is thin, rather hyaline, transverse, ventricose, pearly in the
inside; posterior side sometimes very short, rounded; an-
terior side more or less elongated, gaping; upper edge also
gaping a little. Hinge with a small, rather elongated,
triangular pit, and a marginal lamina in each valve, to the
outer part of which is attached the somewhat short external
ligament. Muscular impressions, two: these, equally with
the muscular impression of the mantle, in which there is a
large sinus, are indistinct.

Shells, in their endless diversity, present an inexhaustible
fund for contemplation and delight. Select two shells of
the same species, as much alike as possible, both in form
and colour, and place them side by side. At first, perhaps,
you see no difference. Look again, and you will observe that
no two spots, nor bands, nor lines, nor tintings are exactly
similar ; and when you consider the number of shells that

364 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

belong to one genus, and the exquisite variety that diver-
sifies the same pattern, you will be able to understand
somewhat of the deep feeling which a lover of nature thus
expresses :—My path leads towards the sea, and I stand
musing on the firm beach; a few moments pass, and gently
heaving billows deposit their tributes at my feet ;—tributes
from the ocean, to one, whose Hlder Brother, the heir of
all things, has restrained their further progress, and as such
I welcome them. Ah! those tributes are exceeding beautiful
—exquisitely-tinted sea-weeds, and shells of surpassing forms
and hues. They speak to me; and their words, unlike those
of the stars and thunder, breathe only of peace and love.
They remind me of our Lord, who, when walking through
the fields of Palestine, bade his disciples look upon the fra-
grant flowers, and listen to the song of birds, and trust in
the loving-kindness of Him who careth for them.

Family XVIJ. PHotapartia.

We know not what thou art,
Nor what thy use, poor mollusk. Humble thou,
Loving to hide, in wood, or rock, or stone ;
Yet wondrous is thy form—adapted well
To all thy parts, but most thy shelly home.

The family Pholadaria, though closely allied to the

PHOLAS. 365

Tubicola, differs, in the animals not forming a testaceous
tube: and yet, although wanting, some analogy may be
traced in certain accessory testaceous pieces, entirely foreign
to the shell, and varying in size and number. Some species
have also a coriaceous or horny tubular appendage at one
end. The family includes two genera—Xylophaga and
Pholas.

The Xylophaga, generally found in light pieces of wood
or stick, which he penetrates to the depth of about an inch,
is admirably formed for his subterraneous mode of life.
The shell approximates closely in its general structure to
that of the last genus of Zwdicola. The valves are equal,
inequilateral, and very much gaping: they resemble those
of Zeredo, but in place of the calcareous tube, they are
merely furnished with two small accessory calyciform tes-
taceous pieces, placed on the anterior side of the hinge. A
small curved tooth is also discoverable in each valve, with
an internal rib running from the umbo to the basal margin ;
two distinct muscular impressions are situated near the
edge of the superior margin, the posterior large, the
anterior sinaller.

Pholades constitute one of the few genera established
by Linneeus, that remain nearly entire; the construction

366 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

of their shells, together with the habits of the animal, being
so peculiar and distinct as not to admit of further sub-
division. The shell is equivalve, transversely oblong, very
inequilateral, and gaping more or less at both ends; the
dorsal margin, being very much reflected back, is generally
divided by numerous transverse septa, and from within the
umbo of each valve proceeds a strong spoon-shaped curva-
ture or tooth. The external surface is uniformly of a
delicate white colour, generally crossed longitudinally and
transversely with fine muricated strie. The interior is
colourless, or rather of a pure or dusky white, though it
sometimes partakes of a brownish cast; this deficiency is,
however, amply compensated by the beautiful fretwork with
which the shells of this genus are usually embellished. The
accessory pieces are irregular in number, equally with their
places of attachment, being formed within or on any part
that requires protection, according to the necessities of the
animal. They are, consequently, found more generally over
the hinge. The animal resembles a fleshy membranaceous
bag, nearly the length of the shell, and open at each end ;
furnished at the upper part with a cylindrical muscular
tube, divided by a partition; at the lower, with a short,
obtusely conical foot.

PHOLAS. 367

A number of loose stones are often left uncovered by the
reflux of the tide, and few, in looking on them, would con-
jecture that some probably contain inhabitants of curious
form and instincts. In each of them a Pholas often ex-
cavates his little cell; which he does by the help of a soft
and plant proboscis, having previously softened them, as
the famous Carthaginian general, Hannihal, is fabled to have
done, not indeed with vinegar, but by means of a peculiar
secretion with which the creature is abundantly provided.
His dwelling is generally oblique to the horizon, resembling
a truncated cone, and terminated with a roundish cavity,
which receives the body ; whilst the furthest end is filled up
with a proboscis, or pipe, of a fleshy substance and conical
form, truncated at the end. This pipe the animal usually
protrudes to the surface of the stone, for the evident purpose
of drawing in the sea-water, on which he subsists, and of
again rejecting it for a fresh supply.

Thus immerged, the Polas subsists in indolence and
plenty, and continues in seclusion, apparently without any
desire to revisit the light of day. Yet the little prisoner is
not so solitary as might at first appear, for many of the
brotherhood congregate in the same rock; and_ their
galleries, like those of miners, frequently open one into

368 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

the other. Whether these openings are casual or designed,
we know not; but it is certain that considerable numbers
of these little anchorites have sometimes been discovered
within a few inches of each other.

The pillars which supported the proud temple of Serapis
at Puteoli, are so completely perforated by these industrious
creatures, as to present the appearance of honey-combs.
Strange comment on the vanity of man! The sculptured
columns of a temple, where busy feet were once heard, and
to which active multitudes resorted, are now desolate and
overthrown, a shelter to innumerable mollusks !

In some species the reticulations of the shell are so deli-
cate as to resemble the finest lace; in others, they may be
compared to small basket-work; and in the P. costata, or
Ribbed Pfolas, the shell is covered with regular, elevated,
jagged, or scalloped ribs, gracefully disposed. But in all,
we see the same subserviency to an especial use. The shell
of the Pholas, if constructed in a similar manner to that of
the Nautilus, Pearl-mussel, or garden Snail, would be little
adapted to the habits of an animal which has frequently to
excavate a tunnel through hard substances. An ovate or
oblong form is consequently the best that could be adopted;
and the points with which it is covered and adorned, are

PHOLAS. 369

evidently designed to protect the shell from external injury
whilst its inhabitant is thus employed. At the same time a
beautiful variety of tints evince that minute attention to
the finishing and decorating of all created things which
everywhere prevails. But why this feeble creature is in-
structed to form an excavation in sand or lime-stone, whilst
others are permitted to range at liberty, we cannot under-
stand; or how this object is effected by means of a peculiar
secretion, has hitherto eluded our researches.

There is another quality m this tribe of mollusks, which
demands a brief description. It is that of emitting a phos-
phorescent liquor, which illuminates whatever it touches.
This peculiarity, observed by Pliny and other ancient natu-
ralists, has furnished a subject for various observations
and experiments to different learned men, especially to
M. Réaumur and M. Beccarius, who particularly devoted
their attention to the subject of phosphoric light.

The luminous quality of the Pholas is in proportion
to its freshness; but even when in a dry state, it may be
revived by the application of fresh or salt water. Brandy
immediately extinguishes the light. A solution of sea-
water increases it; sal ammoniac diminishes it a little;
oil of tartar nearly extinguishes it, and the acids entirely.

: 2B

oie INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

The luminous water, when poured upon fresh calcined
gypsum, rock crystal, or sugar, becomes more vivid. Milk
rendered luminous by the Pholas, loses its shinmg quality
when mixed with sulphuric acid; but regains it on the addi-
tion of oil of tartar. Coloured substances are differently and
powerfully affected by it: white appears to imbibe and emit
the greatest quantity ; yellow and green in less proportions ;
red will emit hardly any light; violet least of all.

A single Pholas will render seven ounces of milk so
beautifully luminous, that surrounding objects are clearly
visible by its light. This luminous quality entirely disappears
when the milk which contains it is excluded from the air ;
but again revives on exposure to the atmosphere. In the
exhausted receiver of an air-pump, the P/o/as loses his light.

The reason for this remarkable provision, as well as the
purpose to which it is applied in the animal economy, are
unknown. | It is one of those extraordinary facts in natural
history, which, like the playful meteors that often beautifully
enliven the solitary woods with their agile and wandering
lights, repeatedly invite the traveller to an unsatisfactory
pursuit, and as frequently elude his vigilance.

The Greek word pholeo, from which the generic appella-
tion of this extraordinary shell-fish is derived, signifies, “ I

TUBICOLA. ark

lie concealed in a cave;’ therefore Pholas, “she who lies
concealed in a cave,” is a beautifully appropriate name, and
designates a retiring disposition and local habitation.

Family XVIII. Tusicora.

Why so long,
E’en as strange creatures, have ye cross’d our paths,
Unheeded like driven leaves, which no one cared
To look upon?

The animal of the Zwdicola is furnished with a smail
bivalve shell, either entirely free, or partially or wholly im-
bedded within the substance of a testaceous tube. This
tube does not apparently form an immediate part of the
organization of the animal, but merely an accessory, yet
important, agent in protecting its inhabitant.

Mollusks of this curious family are found buried in
wood, though mostly lithophagous; they perforate the
holes and cavities by aid, no doubt, of a powerful solvent
secretion from the glands. Five genera are referred to this
family—Aspergillum, Clavagella, Fistulana, Gastrochana,
and Zeredo.

The shell of Aspergil/um is extremely curious, and de-
serving of particular description. It is oval, equivalve, and

2B2

ate INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

nearly equilateral, always remaining open, and supposed to
cover a portion of the animal’s back; in this position it be-
comes imbedded at the lower side of a long clavate testa-
ceous tube, so that the umboes and complete form may be
distinctly traced on the outer surface: the tube is then
elegantly closed over by a convex disc, perforated with nu-
merous tubular holes, like the rose of a common watering-
pot. A small fissure is obvious in the centre, and the
margin is surrounded by a conical frill or row of tubes,
supposed to be filled with fleshy filaments from the
mantle, in living specimens. ‘The upper end of the tube,
which is rarely perfect, is more or less attenuated, and,
gracefully terminating in smooth undulations, is reflected at
the margin; occasionally, however, the tube is straight, and
slightly compressed. The reflected extremity is left entire
at certain periods of growth, and the tube 1s recommenced
according to the exigencies of the animal; some specimens
have been discovered with four or five entire terminal re-
flections.

Observe the curious construction of the Clavagella, and
the admirable appendage with which he is endowed. This
creature is also found buried in stone, with the clavate or
chambered end downward. ‘The tube has a kind of per-

FISTULANA. aha

forated plate inserted at the bottom, analogous to the ter-
minal disc of the one that pertains to Aspergillum; it is
surrounded with minute spiniform tubes, probably filled
also with certain fleshy filaments of the mantle. At the side
of the chambered end is imbedded the fixed valve, some-
what pearly in appearance; and attached to the animal by
two strong muscles, is the corresponding valve, hinging
upon the other by a soft coriaceous ligament.

In the genus /stulana a different construction is ap-
parent. The bivalve shell is altogether free, and indepen-
dent of the tube in which it is confined, while the lower
end of the tube is inversely closed over. It consists merely
of two irregular, inequilateral valves, gaping widely at the
basal margin, and united by a soft ligament, and is en-
closed in the lower expanded cavity of the long, straight,
clavate tube, which it forms in the sand: the lower end is
closed, the upper open.

The genus Gastrochana has been removed from the
Pholadaria to the Tubicola, because, like the rest of their
family, the animal lines the cavity, wherein he dwells, with
a shelly substance, and also forms an unconnected tube for
protection when not imbedded. The tube differs from that
of Fistulana, in being often found in the open parts of

374 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

dead shells, in which case it forms a complete testaceous
covering, entirely foreign to its place of attachment. The
shell is inequivalve, inequilateral, gaping widely on the
anterior side, and resembling an oblong oval; united by a
ligament behind, and having in the interior a small spoon-
shaped curvature, a character which becomes more fully
developed in shells of the Zeredo and Phorus.

Perforations in the timbers of many gallant vessels are
caused by the Zeredo navalis, or common Ship-worm, of
which the generic appellation is derived from a Greek word
signifying ¢o dore. The formation of this curious mol-
lusk bears an obvious reference as well to the purpose for
which he is designed, as to the substance in which he
becomes enclosed. The head is well prepared for en-
countering difficulties, being surmounted by a helmet, and
provided with a tooth adapted for perforating the hardest
substances; the neck is also furnished with strong muscles,
which materially assist the operations of the head, and the
body. is covered with a kind of transparent horn. The
heart is said to be situated in the back, and admits of only
a single circulation, a peculiarity obvious in many animals
that breathe in water. In lke manner the extraordinary
fact, that the breathing apparatus of the ship-worm, in

TEREDO NAVALIS. Ore

common with such mollusks as are unprovided with a
cavity for the reception of salt water, are placed externally,
evinces that their construction is in exact accordance with
their mode of life. The animals turn readily in their re-
spective shells, to which they merely adhere by a slight
connection at one particular part: this arrangement is evi-
dently designed to prevent the tubes from being dis-
turbed by the motion of the inmates, which resembles that
of boring.

As the 7. gigantea, or Great Bifurcated Borer, burrows
im the mud, on which he cannot be supposed to subsist, a
question has arisen whether the Z. navalis receives any
support from the wood which he destroys, or is solely
supplied with food from the sea. The latter opinion is
now generally adopted, as it appears, on close investiga-
tion, that the saw-dust received by the animal does not
experience the shghtest change.

When the hull of a vessel continues for any length of
time in water, the Zeredines appropriate it to their own use.
They commence operations by making holes in the softest
parts of the wood, and, as they have seldom at this period
attained their full growth, the perforations are so small as
to be scarcely discoverable. As soon as they have com-

376 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

pleted the habitations, their next care is to beautify, and
render them commodious. This they effect by means of
a white glutinous fluid, exuding, like the viscous juices
of the common snail, which hardens into a sort of crust,
and forms a thin smooth lining to their cells, protecting also ©
their tender bodies from being injured by the roughness
of the wood; and enabling them to move in various di-
rections without convenience or danger.

They take the greatest care to avoid injuring a neighbour’s
dwelling. Hach case, or shell, is preserved entire, and
even where a piece of wood has been so completely per-
forated as to resemble a honey-comb, the slightest passage
or communication has never been discovered between the
different compartments, though the divisions have frequently
not exceeded the thickness of fine writing-paper.

Is there nothing humilating im the conclusion to which
these facts lead? Would it not appear as if those floating
castles, which open communications between different coun-
tries, are liable to be destroyed by the bite of an insignifi-
cant creature in order to teach mankind the weakness of
their boasted strength? But mark the protecting care of
Providence. The destructive operations of these insi-
dious mollusks are in a great degree obviated by the sin-

=—

Me

TEREDO NAVALIS. 377

gular fact of their generally boring in the direction of the
grain.

Teredines abound in Holland, where the great rivers are
held up by dykes at the height of twenty or even thirty feet
above the level of the land. Here the Zeredines frequently
work their way into the wooden piles, which sustain these
important barriers, and threaten their total demolition, if
the precaution of sheathmg their sides with copper, or a
composition of tar and glass, has been neglected. During
the year 1731, considerable apprehensions having been
excited on this subject, persons were appointed by the
Dutch Government to examine into their state. On drawing
up one which had been driven in rather more than twenty
years previously, it was found, though apparently sound on
the outside, to be completely perforated within by innume-
rable Zeredines, some of which exceeded a foot in length.

All the various parts of nature are beautifully designed
to act in concert. In various instances, the lower we de-
scend in the chain of creation, the more obvious are the uses,
and the more extraordinary the instincts, of many of
the links which compose it. Providence has mercifully
piovided that such should be the case; and the reason is
clear : for, if the destructive and congregating propensities

378 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

of the whale and shark were similar to those of the Zeredo
navalis, the skill and ingenuity of man would be almost
inadequate to counteract the machinations of such formidable
and persevering foes.

Sea-worms have the same office assigned them in the
water as Zermites have on land. These insects, which to a
casual observer appear solely occupied in spreading terror
and destruction wherever they advance, are nevertheless of
infinite importance to the well-being of mankind. They
consume decaying vegetable substances of various kinds;
they also resemble common flies in their general operations—
those indefatigable little labourers, the pioneers of clean-
liness and order, who continually employ themselves in
perforating animal substances, and enabling the elements
speedily to decompose and dissipate them. Their operations
tend to elucidate those of the Teredines, with which it is
impossible to become so accurately acquainted, from the
nature of the element in which they subsist. We are, how-
ever, fully warranted in concluding, that, were it not for
their incessant labours, the mighty rivers of the tropics
would in time become impeded by the vegetable masses
and innumerable trunks and branches of large forest-trees,
which are continually carried into them; and that a consi-

TEREDO NAVALIS. 379

derable proportion of these, from the preservative nature of
salt water, would otherwise probably last for ages, form a
basis for fresh accumulations, and eventually become pro-
ductive of evils, of which it is impossible to form an ade-
quate conception.

Nor is this all. The necessity which these feeble crea-
tures impose upon the inhabitants of Holland of continually
tarring and repairing their dykes and vessels, forms a bond
of union between that country and Sweden, by occasioning
a perpetual demand for oak, pitch, and fir. And as these
apparently pernicious mollusks are at work at Amsterdam
for the advantage of Stockholm, so the labours of insects in
the north are equally profitable to the Hollanders, by pro-
moting the consumption of salt, spices, and grocery, which
are annually exported in large quantities, either for the
purpose of seasoning and preserving the provisions of their
northern neighbours, or to cure the fish which they use
instead of bread.

Cease, then, to regard these creatures as obnoxious,
the use of which you do not readily perceive. The Zeredo
is apparently an insignificant mollusk; nay, more, he
appears on a slight acquaintance to be absolutely inju-
rious: yet the Creator has assigned him an important

380 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

station among His works. The evil which he produces is
readily obviated by a little care and contrivance; but the
good which he is appointed to effect 1s doubtless consider-
able in the scale of nature.

He who dwells
Beside the lofty dykes which nobly breast
A weight of waters, seeming to keep back
The liquid force, which sternly threatens ruin,
Doth hate his very name. And yet from him
Men may derive the lesson, not to judge
Things which they know not.

wo
on
—

CHAPTER IX.
Crass V. BRACHIOPODA.

“For wonderful, indeed, are all His works :
Pleasant to know, and worthiest to be all
Had in remembrance, always with delight.”—Af/éow.

Tue last of the series of mollusks are also without head.
Like the preceding class, they are provided with a shell con-
sisting of two distinct pieces; but their peculiarity consists
in being furnished with a pair of spiral arms, and in being
differently placed within the shell. All live attached to
foreign substances. :
Their retractile arms are said to be in constant activity,
and thus produce an inward current of water for the capture
of small insects, and the drawing in of floating nutriment ;
and, as regards the position of the mollusk in his shelly
home, the dorsal portion is against one valve, and the
ventral against the other. The arrangement and position

382 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

of the dranchie, or breathing-organs, differ matenally from
such as pertain to the Lamellibranchs: they consist of
numerous beautiful ves and arteries, incorporated within
the substance of the two lobes of the mantle. The calci-
fying organ of the Brachiopoda has, therefore, a double
function: it not only secretes calcareous mucus for the for-
mation of the shell, but is made subservient to the circula-
tion of aerated fluid. Professor Owen has well observed,
that, ‘in this profuse distribution of vessels over a plain
membranaceous surface, we perceive the simplest construction
of the water-breathing organ, presenting a beautiful analogy
with the elementary forms of the air-breathing organ, as
shown in the Helices and Bulimi, with their numerous
relatives.”

The muscular system in these singular mollusks 1s also
most appropriate, though complex; the Lingule and Orti-
cule are provided with three pair of muscles, and the Zere-
bratule with four. The large ones are destined to open
and close the valves in the absence of a hinge filament, an“
the smaller assist in sliding one valve over the other for ine
admission of water.

With regard to the situation which the Brachiopodous
mollusca should hold among their brethren, naturalists hays

BRACHIOPODA. 383

been much divided. The author of ‘ Conchologia Syste-
matica’ has, however, in accordance with his own opinion,
and at the suggestion of Deshayes, adopted the higher rank
assigned to them by Cuvier, and placed them next to the
Lamellibranchs.

The animal thus wondrously constructed, and to whom
the means of support are granted by the aid of a curious
and complex apparatus, presents no external beauty. His
form is ovate, or oblong ; he is provided with spirally-twisted
arms, as before mentioned,—also with several muscles ;
headless, he is without eyes, and has a central mouth.

The shell is either calcareous or horny, uniformly bivalve,
having no hinge-ligament, but adhering firmly to the occu-
pant by means of muscles: it is fixed externally to rocks or
stones, or marine substances, either by a long pedicle or
short fibrous tendon, or immediately by the lower valve.

Brachiopods include two small families, which are de-
signated, from their mode of attachment, Zendinosa and
Ahharentia.

354 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

Family L. Tenprnosa.

** The minutest throb,
That through their frame diffuses
The slightest, faintest motion,
Is fixed and indispensable.” — Shelley.

Tendinous Brachiopods are divided from their sessile
brethren in the same manner as the Lepades: the pedicle of
the former, however, differs from the latter both with regard
to its use and situation. Instead of supporting the shell,
as in the instance above cited, or being used asa kind of
nest for the reception of eggs, it serves to afford the animal
a limited sphere of motion; thus causing him to sway gently,
like many grasses that grow low upon the ground. Occa-
sionally some of this curious tribe become attached by a
number of short fibres passing through an orifice in the
under valve. They are divided accordingly into two genera,
LTingula and Terebratula; in the former of which the shell
is equivalve, in the latter inequivalve.

In addition to peculiarities of construction or appendages,
already mentioned, the shell of the Zinguda may be described
as being thin, either horny or calcareous, and of a green or
somewhat ruddy colour, slightly beaked at the apex, and

TEREBRATULA. 385

generally open; and at the base rather acute, sometimes
gaping. ‘Two muscular impressions approximate near the
centre in each valve. Mr. Cuming met with a considerable
number of the Lngula anatina during his cruize amongst
the Phihppine Islands; he mentions that they are eaten
occasionally by the natives, but he did not consider them
as wholesome food. ‘The fact of their having so long escaped
the notice of travellers may be attributed to their peculiar
mode of life—they live buried in hard sand, and may only be
dug out at low water.

The genus Zerebratula, from the extent of its geological
relations, has always been one of considerable interest, and 1s,
in fact, richer in fossil species than any other. The shell
differs materially from that of Lingula, and consequently
requires a brief description. It is nequivalve, inequilateral,
oval, or orbicular, adhering by a rather short fibro-gelatinous
tendon. ‘The upper valve is produced at the apex, often
curved inwards, and perforated for the tendon, with a
single dentiform hinge-process on each side. ‘Two slender,
shelly processes, generally recurved and bent, pertain to
the lower valve; the muscular impressions are indistinctly
marked.

Such are the varied arrangements made for the comfort

Lat G

386 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

and well-being of these humble mollusks,—these headless
creatures, blind also, and incapable of motion. ‘There is, |
also, much of beauty in the internal arrangement of their
shells ; for these, in common with others that pertain to the
Brachiopoda, are distinguished by several interesting pecu-
liarities of stracture. When thin sections are examined by
the aid of a high magnifier, the effect is exquisite: it seems
as if the surface was raised with clusters of minute floral
leaves, resembling those of the yellow everlasting, or globe
amaranthus. This result undoubtedly proceeds from the
effect of light and shade on the orifices of innumerable
perforations.

A variety of appearances is presented also, according to
the interesting statement of Dr. Carpenter, to which we
have already referred, proceeding either from long flattened
cells, or plications in the cell-membrane, and readily dis-
coverable in even the minutest fragment. When also a
portion of one of the shells has been completely decalcified
by the action of dilute nitric acid, the membranous residuum
presents a very remarkable structure, of which no trace is
discoverable in ordinary bivalves. A series of tubular ap-
pendages are seen attached to the membranous films,
corresponding in diameter to the shelly perforations, and

lr/

ADHERENTIA. 387

arranged at the same distances; of these the contents are
distinctly cellular, resembling cells in the interior of glan-
dular follicles. They lie in the perforations of the shell,
and often on its inner surface, having distinct and inde-
pendent terminations on the internal surface of the shell.
The surface of the mantle, when carefully examined, 1s
found to be studded with minute cells in that part which
comes in contact with the shell, and each one exactly cor-
responds in size and aspect with those contained in the
tubules. The purpose designed by such a curious structure
is at present a mystery; it is, however, without doubt, of
considerable importance in the economy of the mollusk.

This beautiful arrangement requires, for its development,
to be magnified at least 150 diameters.

Family IT. Apuamruntta.

** Look on the frame
Of this wyde universe, and therein read
The endless kind of creatures which by name
Thou canst not count, much less their nature’s aime,
All which are made with wondrous wise respect,
And all with admirable beauty deckt.”— Spenser.

In this family the shell adheres immediately, though pro-
vided with a muscular tendon, that passes through a perfo-
2 C2

388 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

ration or fissure in the lower valve. The valves are not
united by any ligament, nor do they exhibit, except in the
genus Thecidium, the cardinal processes or internal frame-
work so characteristic of the Zerebratule. Their shell is
rather thin,—more horny than shelly. Three genera be-
long to this family—TZhecidium, Crania, and Orbicula.

Thecidium.—This genus, intermediate between the two
families of Brachiopods,—resembling the Zerebratule, not
only in shape, but in the cardinal processes,—differs in being
imperforate, and without either pedicle or tendon. It is
one of considerable interest to the geologist, and at the
time of its first introduction by Defrance was known only
in the fossil state. It is needless to speak further con-
cerning the small, ovate, inequivalve, and nearly equilateral
shell which pertains to the present genus, except to state
that, as regards the interior of the shell, both valves are of
a very pale greenish colour, and finely granulated, the lower
valve being convex, the upper flat and curiously indented,
as if to fit certain corresponding parts in the body of the
animal. ‘These mdentations, which are spread round in a
semicircular direction from the hinge, look as if they were
pricked out in wax, and are occasionally filled with the dried
remains of numerous fine cilia.

ORBICULA. 389

Of the genus Crania, few authors have acknowledged
more than one recent species, but M. Heeninghaus, of Cre-
feld, asserts that two or three different species have been
referred to the Crania personata. Neither cardinal pro-
cesses, nor any indication of a hinge, pertain to the shell
of this genus. The interior exhibits muscular impressions ;
the exterior appears compressed, somewhat square, mequi-
valve, with an upper convex and patelliform valve, and a
lower one flat and attached.

The genus Ordicula is peculiar in the composition of its
shells ; they are rather horny than calcareous, and differ in
their mode of attachment. Although fixed immediately to
marine substances, one upon the other, they do not adhere
by any portion of the shell, but rather by means of a car-
tilaginous tendon passing through a longitudinal fissure,
situated in the centre of a small oval depression, pertaining
to the lower valve, and which immediately afterwards ex-
pands and conceals the edges.

ee

Love delighteth in small doings ;—it is best shown in
those little acts of kindness that form the joy of life. We
have thought, when considering the wonderful construction

390 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY.

of many an obscure shell, or its molluscous inhabitant, that
the Creator deigned by such means to make known his love
and guardian care over all that lives and moves.

His majesty and power are manifested in the storm and
whirlwind, in pealing thunders and scorching lightnings ;
but His “still small voice” of love is heard, speaking, as
it were, ofttimes from the humblest of created beings.

THE END.

eee

PUEDE ORENTTA 3565505. 387
Pee oss wes. 207
Perapmiaria,.. 25. .<- 55: 163
PRPRISLOMIAlS 01.0% 506 +0 es 185
UG 353
PematiMenda : 6.6.6.6 ws ss 355
PeMrenlania . 6 ce oa ee es 92
WemeyliS: 2. i. :s..isese 167
PPPPOM ONS S515 ).05 200. oF wa a7
POMONA. 650 5 co8-t4.4. Sass 254.
SDN GUE se a 1ee
PROEENAISE! , cisco. thes - 108
ERO NEIS ofc so oie fcc wa CORO
200 a ar 53
PeSperounMN ois.c bas. tes 371
IMAEARUER 6 634.5% yo oe 0 2 OOO
POMVUGIN ay soe .-4 3 wt 168
ASG Se 271
ipankivia. +. <.24.+2...+ Y40

BOrersS 5.45.6 ois oar
Trachvopodsy-. 23-7 eae
BUCCHIUM 8.7. oo Pee
ulwes | oho xs se eee
Bullasugas seo eee
Calaniany.s 2. ae seer
Calyptrecat.. 54. a.se eee
@analiferas: 22 2354-4 0
Cansa sce 5s sos eee
Capulaeed ea cas ae
Carditia’ss)29 5.2 Bact oak
Cardi... i606... 088
Carmatia.1- 604) See
Carrier Trochus ..-....;
CaSsist ct o.5 oad odew eae
Cephalopods .. 252.222.

Cerithium. 0. s<eic.0 05
Cervicobranchs.........

Chama

@'¢ © ee) 6 eee) (6) 8 a6, 8

392

a ere 6 « s © 6.6 © 8 © = 2; @

BTS 2 eo a deeb a RE
RSID | Si..c od . sean Re
MGyaPeUe 2 oin y < aiaxs Ble
Wleidotheerus. ... .... 2.3
USC UC he ae oe oP
EARS os real tlw a's BY
Colimacea .....
Columellata
Conchacea

eee ere ee ve ve
« @ 0.16 9 @ Sais) s © 5/3

PORES he ih os ns oe
Convoluta
Corbis
OC CL ne oe
GIGS 2 ois, oo aes
Crania

a 2s 9 ate @ @ © 2 @ talevie @

sje 6 © yo Ke, os is We ip (0

MESES esas 5 2's 1a0 4's RMIDE
neues oe ao wd ae
Cumingia.....

Cup and Saucer ....

INDEX
Page.
168°) ‘Cuttlefish: sc 55 see
2297) “Cuvieria <2 concn
BBA: | SOyelas ) 25 ws kn eee
205° | Cyclobranchs .....#tee:
208) | (Cyelostoma:. 2, «03a
18p! |; Cymibuliaitedinee Tae
S12.) (Oypred vs a0, Seen
anh | Cypticardia;. .....0ae
Qaas | Cprina. 3. 3% oe te.
S20) | Cyrene... os. 2 +s | eee
172 |: Cyrtulus’. .. <...% = sane
79.) Dentaltum. .. 22.2... e208
aoe. |) Dolgm ... 522 sess Ree
et Dolabella: z..a kiana weet
Ga (Doran. ce ae 1 eee
WS 4 Mlareshell ees cae. eee ee
o40) | Were. 2. 0. :.sk. cee ee
354 | Edible Snail..........%
We Milenchus .... . 2.2. «ee
389: |) Mmarginula.. 2 ....S. 208
B48: | Bralo 4 vy ..< ss hoe
270 | Etheria. :
24. | Masciolaria ..2...54 ee
sc0 | Miewlasci.->.2.. . ace
abl |; diesnraceay = 2a eee
24%) | Bissurella,:.24 2.45 eee

Fistulana
Galathea .
Galeomma.,.....:.
Gastrochena ...
Gastropods. . ‘ ;
Geographical Birebition
Glassy Nautilus.........
CONOME ».. 2.556. 0%
BEMMCTIS. 2. 55 as os ss
matnodon.....,.....
Growth .. ;
Habitations.......
Haliotis ...

Harpa...

Helicina ..

RRO on ane bbe bend
SG
MEIPOUYR . ook oles
BRN OPUS:. 6. ae sah
OO 2 rir ee
Tanthinea ....

Ji
MNGATONA oso 6 ays cn vs We
Lamellibranchs.........
_ Se

=e! of of @ o) ef a pf ¢:(s' ee

a 2613: e eo se v6 6 Oe

INDEX
Page.
Dieu WANT, ..*s's ae kis
Dae |) MMA. sg 5 eke
sa9; | Dimpet. 2.22: .
Sivoo 1¢ Tame ules cig conser ee eee
61°| lithedaphus.......
187 | Lithophaga. .
hb |? Battorma, .°. . 2.5. pee
SG | Ge Oy:..< oc: 2 =. eee
B60) | Metta so. fencers or
S48e |; JiwiGinal sa soe ao, ee
OF |}: Wutrara 2.2.
LIM Pas tua ove steer hes ee
207 | Macrostomata.....
103 | Mactra . sees tee
WHOL |S Mla otliisi arses ay ctnote cone
jd} Malleus .&..
OUR: | Wettig elec tastes rtere ae
212.) Margarita: ..5....0c8 =
00-1) Waromella, oe 4.0.02.
240 ' Melonopsisas. i. 4... «
St |. Melons: 2.) ca eee
ol | Melania- <...<.s...4.5 5m
a29 | Mesodesma...:......08
BAAN A MRETES 0c 5, bn soe @oete See
226 | Murex, .;...
Bde |; Wissel “5 5. «0000 eee

394 INDEX.

Page.
Myde oss cb vscd sees %s 3521] Parmophorus:, <:.....7588
Mycetopus: - 2.2 22.80 e0% SES) | Pabella ss. iced weccvsis ecpem ae
MESES © Fou. cede os oe DSOi Peawls -..32 seco wc Soe
Watats? . Foicc cure oo RE Seki) RE CtENS,-.7,sccct aceon Cee
INaneHOS se 2d oe 2. ¢ PERE 43)-) (Peetimbranchss..0..10 Bee
iweveceila: tees heer i oe. 158 | Pectunculus ...........
PW STIRCER eos occ he co ee CPR CGRI ccs asso, SE
PWTICCS fossa te ww U60'>| “Penstomata:s. <<... 20S
OWEEMINA v5 2 2 69523 e's % 83 159 | Penmwinkle .. .......0< 788
INucleobranchs. ..... .22. DSMs 2) VPS 5 vi akctid:c ee
emOWleie hs Seek aaa i aaa Sate ti (Petricola cick. <r encusere
IMLS... ode clais 5 BO $38) 1(: | PhaSianella,.... .2.<.3 58s
Gerapus <:..2.% 2. | | PRoladomyas<.:s.s05. 4
OWN Sea see es ¥5 Sees OAL PIM ASe 5 cis archos. ae ae
Gnychoteuthis:....3 2.4 4A) PAYS 5.22 els eee
Grbtcala ss. ss 222.5252 389 | :Pileopsis
Ostrea GAG) PRA ore. Kaien ee
COPIMGIM: ccs cb aeeni ihe POL) POON ove. oe
pers sess feds, SE 247 | Platunanomia....... 2.4
Organer “Beds: 5 ¢ sx se 51s BAG 2) Plamorbis +.+.:.5.5:s:50arere tee
Paudina® 2.co< 36s 5 2832 ¥63 |’ Plenrobranchus |=. ...-. 938
pandora . 2: 24.6 0s. 64s JSST | Pleated cen. os ie eee
IPanopmeed ). .<cic eo SURES S60 +} Pheatula. «-. ....).2., 96
Peper Nautilus: . ¢.<2)/200%3S | (PEaMUSs 4650.4
iIParasitiea <s25s25¢6¢4 2% 134 |: Psammolbia2..-.-..:..--
Parmacella ....s20558% POW. | Pperocera ssc ceee

Pteropods

PPASENE soe ie oicse oe on

Pulmobranchs

Pupina
Purpurifera

Pyramidella

Rostellaria
Rotella...

see ce @ ee 2 @

ees eevee eer ce

pep 0 ¢ @ oo eerste

Sanguinolaria......:...

Saxicava..

Sealaria ........

Scallops ..
Scarabus . .
Sepia... ...
Ship-worm
Sigaretus .
Siliquaria .

eee eo ee ee oe eo ©

eore coe se? © ee © @

miphonaria ........

Slugs ..

SURED era's arn adan's oh aa Bld

Solarium .

Solen
Solenella .

“es es @ ene et eevee

SPRUE Ay ier ao sx: vi oes 6

Spirula ...

oes ec eeere eevee

os ees eee eee

Stomatias veiet sot ee

a 9 @ 6 9 Fe 0) sie) is 6

Menb pyas 22 Ac es, ote eae

S. @ @ is) 0) 0:0 Se Je

S © (#0) (6 0.10 ») 2 6

© @ .@).0) eLe)'ei5 0), ale

epee «© e@ oe eo 2

G) 0) Bole! ‘a: (0 om) ea) ale

ee cs @ee « © « 6

2 © eo ee we we

INDEX
Page.
238 | Spondylus
336 | Staircase Trochus .
166
LY i Strombus .>.....-
91 | Struthiolaria
Loy | Stylifer,. -.;.
LOO") Bellina. =.<..
147 | Tendinosa .
339
343 | Terebratula
LAS | eredor os...
264 | Testacellus
168 | Thecidium
44, | Thracia ....
374 | Tornatella
206 | Trachelipods
204 | Tree Oyster
Bib | Tmdacna ...
192 | Trigonia....
M76.) Al Eton? eee:
149 | Trochiscus
360 | Trochus ....
358 | Trumpet shells
361 | Truncatella..
241 | Tubicola....
56 | Turbinacea..

396

Mwinispiraeéa: v2.6 5.
Minrinmella 228 oi)

Turbo ..«:

MIS ere Ss eRe me's
@erian purple <4: 64s. «

Umbrella .
Ungulina .

BONN vec e mat scsta teak 3
Valyata Ys 202

INDEX.
Page.
204.) Welutima =... ...s>-See
130-)) Venuss.. 03.424 See
145°) Vermetus 2...) 780
LO 1 Witrina s <<.7s 3,05 os eee
119°) Volutées-. ¥ eee eee
OO Watisellars ie os eee
350 | Watering-pot .
S15 | WWentle-frap. jane e eo
162° | Xylophaga <..).2. 20a

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corresponding value. We have not been disappointed. Mr. Sanders’s directions are as
plain as words can make them, and, we will add, as judicious as his long experience had
led us to expect. After a careful perusal of his little treatise, we find nothing to object
to and much to praise.””—Gurdeners’ Chronicle.

6. POPULAR MINERALOGY. By Henry Sowersy. Royal 16mo.
With 20 coloured plates of figures. 10s. 6d.

“¢ Mr. Sowerby has endeavoured to throw around his subject every attraction. His
work is fully and carefully illustrated with coloured plates.’’—Spectator.

7, INSTINCT AND. REASON. By Atrrep Smee, F.R.S., Author of
‘Electro-Biology.’ One vol. 8vo. With coloured plates by Wing, and
Woodeuts. 18s.

‘© Mr. Smee’s facts are extremely valuable. His work, moreover, is one of most vivid

interest. Entertainment and instruction are here combined in a very high degree; and
the admirable coloured plates add essentially to its value.””—Britannia.

8. THE TOURIST’S FLORA. A Descriptive Catalogue of the Flowering
Plants and Ferns of the British Islands, France, Germany, Switzerland,
and Italy. By JosrpH Woops, F.A.S., F.L.S., F.G.S. 8vo. 18s.

9. POPULAR HISTORY OF MAMMALIA. By Apam Wuirzt, F.LS.,
Assistant in the Zoological Department of the British Museum. With
sixteen coloured plates of Quadrupeds, &c., by B. WATERHOUSE Haw-
Kins, F.L:S. Royal l6mo. 10s. 6d.

‘<The present increase of our stores of anecdotal matter respecting every kind of
animal has been used with much tact by Mr. White, who has a terse chatty way of
putting down his reflections, mingled with easy familiarity, which every one accus-
peed daily to zoological pursuits is sure to attain. The book is profusely illustrated.”
Atlas.

‘* Mr. White has prosecuted natural history in almost all its branches with singular
success, and in the beautiful work before us has gone far to raise up young aspirants as

LIST OF WORKS. 3

eager, if not as accomplished, as himself. No book can better answer its purpose; the
descriptions are as bright as the pictures, and the kind-hearted playfulness of the style
will make it an especial favourite. Unlike some popular manuals, it is the product of
firstrate science.””—English Presbyterian Messenger.

10. VOICES FROM THE WOODLANDS; or, History of Forest Trees,
Lichens, Mosses, and Ferns. By Mary Roperrs. With twenty
coloured plates by Fircu. Royal l6mo. 10s. 6d.

‘“¢The fair authoress of this pretty volume has shown more than the usual good
taste of her sex in the selection of her mode of conveying to the young interesting in-
struction upon pleasing topics. She bids them join in a ramble through the sylvan
wilds, and at her command the fragile lichen, the gnarled oak, the towering beech, the
graceful chestnut, and the waving poplar, discourse eloquently, and tell their respective
histories and uses.” —Britannia.

11. POPULAR FIELD BOTANY; comprising a familar and technical de-
scription of the Plants most common to the British Isles, adapted to the
study of either the Artificial or Natural System. By AcGnrs Cariow.
Second Edition. Arranged in twelve chapters, each being the Botanical
lesson for the month. Containing twenty coloured plates. Royal 16mo.
10s. 6d.

12. THOUGHTS ON A PEBBLE; or, A First Lesson in Geology. By
Dr. MANvTELL, F.R.S. Eighth Edition, considerably enlarged. With
four coloured plates, twenty-seven woodcuts, and a Portrait of the
Author. Square 12mo. 5s.

© One of those pleasing little works, which, while they possess much to attract and
entertain the youthful mind, contain more to instruct and inspire it with ennobling
sentiments. We have much pleasure in recommending it.””—Friend.

13. THE POETRY OF SCIENCE; or, Studies of the Physical Phenomena
‘of Nature. By Rospertr Hunt, Esq., Author of ‘Panthea.’ Second
Edition. Revised by the Author. With an Index. 8vo. 12s.

*¢ An able and clever exposition of the great generalities of Science, adapted to the
comprehension of those who know little of her mysteries.” —-ATHEN ZUM.

14. EPISODES OF INSECT LIFE. First Series. One vol. crown 8vo,
with 36 illustrations. Price 16s. elegantly bound in fancy cloth. Co-
loured and bound extra, gilt back, sides, and edges, 21s.

‘“‘The letterpress is interspersed with vignettes clearly and cleverly engraved on
stone, and the whole pile of natural history—fable, poetry, theory, and fact—is
stuck over with quaint apophthegms and shrewd maxims, deduced for the benefit of
man from the contemplation of such tiny monitors as gnats and moths.—Altogether
the book is a curious and interesting one—quaint and clever, genial and well-in«
formed.’’—Morning Chronicle.

+ LIST OF WORKS.

15. EPISODES OF INSECT LIFE. Second Series. One vol. crown 8vo,
with 36 illustrations. Price 16s. elegantly bound in fancy cloth. Co-
loured and bound extra, gilt back, sides, and edges, 21s.

‘“ We have looked forward to meeting our old friend with anticipations of enjoyment,
remembering the pleasant hours that we passed with her in former years. Nor have
our expectations been disappointed: our gossip is as merry, as instructive, as wise as
ever.”’—ATHENZUM.

16. EPISODES OF INSECT LIFE. Third and concluding Series. One
vol. crown 8vo, with 36 illustrations. Price 16s. elegantly bound in fancy
cloth. Coloured and bound extra, gilt back, sides, and edges, 21s.

*“'The work is beautifully printed, and the figures nicely coloured, and will be quite
a treasure to any one just commencing the study of this fascinating science.”’—West-
minster and Foreign Quarterly Review.

17. PHYCOLOGIA BRITANNICA; or, History of the British Sea- Weeds ;
containing coloured figures, and descriptions, of all the species of Algze
inhabiting the shores of the British Islands. By Wittiam HENRY
Harvey, M.D., M.R.1.A., Keeper of the Herbarium of the University
of Dublin, and Professor of Botany to the Dublin Society. The price of
the work, complete, strongly bound in cloth, is as follows :—

In three vols. royal 8vo, arranged in the order
of publication. ; 4 2 ial

In four vols. royal 8vo, arranged systematically £7 17 6
according to the Synopsis :

A few Copies have been beautifully printed on large paper.

“The ‘ History of British Sea-weeds’ we can most faithfully reeommend for its scien-
tific, its pictorial, and its popular value; the professed botanist will find it a work of
the highest character, whilst those who desire merely to know the names and history
of the lovely plants which they gather on the sea-shore, will find in it the faithful por-
traiture of every one of them.’’—Annals and Magazine of Natural History.

“<The drawings are beautifully executed by the author himself on stone, the dissec-
tions carefully prepared, and the whole account of the species drawn up in such a way
as cannot fail to be instructive, even to those who are well acquainted with the subject.
The greater part of our more common Algee have never been illustrated in a manner
agreeable to the present state of Algology.”’—Gardeners’ Chronicle,

18. POPULAR HISTORY OF BRITISH SEA-WEEDS. By the Rev.
Davip Lanpssoroven, A.L.S., Member of the Weruerian Society of
Edinburgh. With twenty coloured plates by Fitch. Second Edition,
Royal l6mo. 10s. 6d.

‘* The book is as well executed as it is well timed. The descriptions are scientific as
well as popular, and the plates are clear and explicit. It is a worthy sea-side com-
panion—a hand-book for eyery resident on the sea-shore.’’—Economist.

LIST OF WORKS. 5

19. PANTHEA, THE SPIRIT OF NATURE. By Rospert Hunt. Author
of ‘The Poetry of Science.’ One vol. 8vo. Price 10s. 6d.
‘There is, throughout, the closeness of matter and eloquence of style that distin-
guish the ‘ Poetry of Science. ’ ”’—Spectator.
20. A REVIEW OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. By
CapTaINn CHAMIER, R.N. Two vols. 8vo. Price 21s.

“* The most accurate and judicious as well as amusing History of the Revolution we
have seen.”—Quarterly Review,

21. THE BIRDS OF IRELAND. By Witttam THompson, Esq., Pre-
sident of the Natural History and Philosophical Society of Belfast.
Vol. I. Price 16s. cloth. Vol. IJ. Price 12s. Vol. III. Price 16s.

** Our readers, if once they get hold of this work, will not readily lay it down; for
while habits are dwelt upon in a manner so amusing that we have known extracts to be
read aloud toa delighted circle of children, it contains the precise information which the
ornithologist demands, and brings forward topics both of popular and scientific interest,
. such as the geographical distribution of species, the causes which seem to operate on
their increase and decrease, their migrations, their uses to man, the occasional injuries
they inflict, and the important benefits they confer. It is a STANDARD WORK, and
will rank with those of our first ornithologists.’—Dublin Quarterly Journal of
Medical Science.

22. TRAVELS IN THE INTERIOR OF BRAZIL, principally through
the Northern Provinces and the Gold and Diamond Districts, during
the years 1836-41. By Grorcre Garpner, M.D., F.L.S. Second
and Cheaper Edition. 8vo. Plate and Map. Price 12s.; bound, 18s.

23. ILLUSTRATIONS OF BRITISH MYCOLOGY;; or, Figures and De-
scriptions of British Funguses. By Mrs. T. J. Hussey. Royal 4to,
Ninety plates, beautifully coloured. Price 7/. 12s. 6d., cloth.

24. ILLUSTRATIONS OF BRITISH MYCOLOGY ; containing Figures
and Descriptions of the Funguses of interest and novelty indigenous to
Britain. Second Series. By Mrs. Hussey. In Monthly Parts, price
5s. ‘To be completed in twenty Parts.

25. THE ESCULENT FUNGUSES OF ENGLAND. By the Rev. Dr.
Bapuam. Super-royal 8vo. Price 21s., coloured plates.

26. NARRATIVE OF THE VOYAGE OF H.M.S. SAMARANG in the
Eastern Archipelago during the years 1843-46. By Captain Sir E>warp
BewcHer, C.B., F.R.A.S. and G.S. In 2 vols. 8vo, 35 Charts, Coloured
Plates, and Etchings. Price 36s., cloth.

27. CURTIS’S BRITISH ENTOMOLOGY. By Joun Curtis, F.L.S.
Sixteen vols. royal 8vo. 770 copper-plates, beautifully coloured. Price
£21. (Published at £43 16s.)

6 LIST OF WORKS.

28. THE VICTORIA REGIA. By Sir W. J. Hooker, F.R.S. In ele-
phant folio. Beautifully illustrated by W. Fitch. Price 31s. 6d.

29. THE RHODODENDRONS OF SIKKIM-HIMALAYA. Jirst Series.
With coloured drawings and descriptions made on the spot. By J. D.
Hooker, M.D., F.R.S: Edited by Sir W. J. Hooxer, D.C.L.,
F.R.S. Second Edition. In handsome imperial folio, with ten beau-
tifully coloured plates. Price 21s.

** In this work we haye the first results of Dr. Hooker’s botanical mission to India.
The announcement is calculated to startle some of our readers when they know that it
was only last January twelvemonths that the Doctor arrived in Calcutta. That he
should have ascended the Himalaya, discovered a number of plants, and that they
should be published in England in an almost UNEQUALLED STYLE OF MAGNIFICENT
ILLUSTRATION, in less than eighteen months—is one of the marvels of our time.”’—
ATHENZUM.

30. THE RHODODENDRONS OF SIKKIM-HIMALAYA. Second
Series. By JoseruH Darton Hooker, M.D., F.R.S. Edited by Sir
W. J. Hooker, M.D., F.R.S. In handsome imperial folio, with ten

beautifully coloured plates. Price 25s.

31. THE RHODODENDRONS OF SIKKIM-HIMALAYA. Third and
concluding Series. By JosepH Dattron Hooker, M.D., F.R.S.
Edited by Sir W. J. Hooxer, M.D., F.R.S. In handsome imperial
folio, with ten beautifully coloured plates. Price 25s.

32. POPULAR BRITISH ORNITHOLOGY; comprising a familiar and
technical description of the Birds of the British Isles. By P. H.
Gosse, Author of ‘The Ocean,’ ‘ The Birds of Jamaica,’ &c. In twelve
chapters, ‘each. being the Ornithological lesson for the month. In one
vol. royal 16mo, with twenty plates of figures. Price 10s. 6d. coloured.

“‘'To render the subject of ornithology clear, and its study attractive, has been the

great aim of the author of this beautiful little volume. . . It is embellished by upwards
of seventy plates of British birds beautifully coloured.’’—Morning Herald.

33. POPULAR BRITISH ENTOMOLOGY; comprising a familiar and
technical description of the Insects most common to the British Isles.
By Maria E. Carrow. In twelve chapters, each being the Entomo-
logical lesson for the month. In one vol. royal 16mo, with sixteen

plates of figures. Price 10s. 6d. coloured.

‘* Judiciously executed, with excellent figures of the commoner species, for the use
of young beginners.’’—Annual Address of the President of the Entomological Society.

** Miss Catlow’s ‘ Popular British Entomology ’ contains an introductory chapter or
two on classification, which are followed by brief generic and specific descriptions in
English of above 200 of the commoner British species, together with accurate figures
of about 70 of those described ; and will be quite a treasure to any one just commencing
the study of this fascinating science.’’-—Westminster and Foreign Quarterly Review.

34.

35,

36,

37.

38.

39.

40,

41.

42.

43,

LIST OF WORKS. 7

THE DODO AND ITS KINDRED; or, the History, Affinities, and
Osteology of the Dopo, SoLrrarre, and other extinct birds of the
Islands Mauritius, Rodriguez, and Bourbon. By H. E. Srricknann,
Hsq., M.A., F.R.G.S., F.G.S.; and A. G. Mrtvitte, M.D., M.R.C.S.
One vol. royal quarto, with eighteen plates aud numerous wood illustra-
tions. Price 21s.

A CENTURY OF ORCHIDACEOUS PLANTS, the Plates selected
from the Botanical Magazine. The descriptions re-written by Sir
Witi1aAm Jackson Hooxnr, F-.R.S., Director of the Royal Gardens
of Kew; with Introduction and instructions for their culture by Joun
Cuaries Lyons, Hsq. One hundred coloured plates, royal quarto.
Price Live Guineas.

CONCHOLOGIA SYSTEMATICA; or, Complete System of Con-
chology. 300 plates of upwards of 1,500 figures of Shells. By
LovELL Reeve, F.L.S. Two vols. 4to, cloth. Price 10/7. coloured ;
6/7. plain.

CONCHOLOGIST’S NOMENCLATOR; or, Catalogue of recent
Shells. By AcNres Cattow and Lovett Reeve, F.L.S. Price 21s.

FLORA ANTARCTICA; or, Botany of the Antarctic Voyage. By
JosepH Darton Hooker, M.D., R.N., F.R.S., &. Two vols. royal
4to, 200 plates. Price 107. 15s. coloured; 77. 10s. plain.

CRYPTOGAMIA ANTARCTICA; or, Cryptogamic Botany of the
Antarctic Voyage. By JosepH Daron Hooker, F.R.S., &e.
Royal 4to. Price 4/7. 4s. coloured; 2/7. 17s. plain.

THE BRITISH DESMIDIEA; or, Fresh-Water Alge. By Joun
Ratrs, M.R.C.S. Price 36s. coloured plates.

CONCHYLIA DITHYRA INSULARUM BRITANNICARUM. By
Witiiam Turton, M.D. Reprinted verbatim from the original
edition. Large paper, price 22. 10s.

THE PLANETARY AND STELLAR UNIVERSE. By Rosert
JAMES Mann, Price 5s., cloth.

ILLUSTRATIONS of the WISDOM and BENEVOLENCE of the
DEITY, as manifested in Nature. By H.Epwarps, LL.D. Price
2s. 6d., cloth.

44.

45.

46.

AT,

48,

AQ,

50.

51.

52.

LIST OF WORKS.

Serials.

CURTIS’S BOTANICAL MAGAZINE; by Sir Wittiam Jackson
Hooker, F.R.S., V.P.L.S., &c., Director of the Royal Gardens of Kew.
With observations on the culture of each species, by Mr. John Smith,
A.L.S., Curator of the Royal Gardens. In monthly numbers, each
containing six plates, price 3s. 6d. coloured.

HOOKER’S JOURNAL OF BOTANY, and KEW GARDEN MIS-
CELLANY. Edited by Sir Wit1iam Jackson Hooker, F.R.S.,
&e. In monthly numbers. Price One Shilling.

ILLUSTRATIONS OF BRITISH MYCOLOGY ; containing Figures
and Descriptions of the Funguses of interest and novelty indigenous to
Britain. Second Series. By Mrs. Hussry. In Monthly Parts, price 5s.
To be completed in twenty Parts.

ICONES PLANTARUM;; or, Figures, with brief descriptive characters
and remarks, of new and rare Plants. Published monthly, with eight
plates. Price 2s. 6d.

NEREIS AUSTRALIS; or, Tlustrations of the Algee of the Southern
Ocean. By Professor Harvey, M.D., M.R.I.A. To be completed in
Four Parts, each containing 25 coloured plates, imp. 8vo, price 12. 1s.
Parts 1 and 2 recently published.

CONTRIBUTIONS TO ORNITHOLOGY. By Sir Wixtram Jar-
DINE, Bart. In parts, each containing 4 plates, price 3s.

CONCHOLOGIA ICONICA; or, Figures and Descriptions of the
Shells of Molluscous Animals. By Lovett Renve, F.L.S. Demy 4to.
Monthly. Hight plates. Price 10s. coloured.

ELEMENTS OF CONCHOLOGY; or, Introduction to the Natural
History of Shells and their molluscous inhabitants. By Loven, REEVE,
F.L.S. Royal 8vo. In twelve parts, each containing five plates. Price
3s. 6d. coloured.

CURTIS’S BRITISH ENTOMOLOGY. Re-issued in monthly parts,
each containing 4 coloured plates and corresponding text. Price 3s. 6d.

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LONDON:

REEVE and BENHAM, HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN.

Printed by Reeve and Nichols, Heathcock-court, Strand.

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